Relatives in tears as they seek information about loved ones
Print Edition
GRIM-FACED and some in tears, relatives of passengers of the German airliner that crashed in the French Alps gathered at Barcelona airport, desperate for news of their loved ones.
Spain’s King Felipe VI and his wife Letizia cut short their first state visit to France after the tragedy.
“We know the number of victims is extremely high — a large number of Spaniards, Germans, but also Turks,” the king said.
Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told television station TVE there were 45 people with Spanish-sounding surnames on board but it was not clear how many were Spanish citizens.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy voiced his shock and said he had set up a crisis cell to deal with the disaster.
“It is dramatic and sad news with the loss of many lives,” he told reporters in the northern Basque Country.
Rajoy said he had suspended his agenda to follow developments.
“Shocked by the air accident in the Alps. A tragedy. We are cooperating with the French and German authorities in the investigation,” Rajoy said in a Twitter message.
More than a dozen people at Barcelona’s El Prat airport approached the counter of Swissport which provides ground handling services for several airlines, including Germanwings.
Three couples and four men, who were visibly shaken, were among those who approached the counter.
An elegantly dressed man in his 60s tried to hide his tears behind sunglasses.
Another man in his 30s looked down at the ground and repeatedly shook his head as if he did not want to believe the tragic news.
All were taken to a room set up for them by police officers, who kept journalists at bay.
No Germanwings representatives were at the airport. Only three employees staffed the Swissport counter, which provides ground services for several other airlines.
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