In a press conference early this morning, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed that two Australians were amongst 150 passengers killed when an Airbus A320 crashed between Spain and Germany.
“Sadly I can confirm that there were two Australian citizens on board, a mother and her adult son from Victoria,” she told the media.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families.”
The plane, operated by budget carrier Germanwings, was travelling between Barcelona and Dusseldorf when it crashed in a mountainous region of the south of France.
Amongst the victims were 16 students and two teachers from a high school in the small German town of Haltern, who had been in Barcelona for a Spanish language exchange program.
The town is in a state of disbelief at the loss, and overnight, a church service was held to commemorate the victims.
Haltern – a town grieves silently tonight. pic.twitter.com/9X9ecbG66t
— Piers Scholfield (@inglesi) March 24, 2015
World leaders including Barack Obama have offered their condolences, and the US is currently working to determine how many of its own citizens were on the flight.
via Fairfax
Sascha Steinbach via Getty Images
Sascha Steinbach via Getty Images
