FRANCE-CRASH/GERMANWINGS GERMAN MAYOR Students killed in Germanwings crash not forgotten, says German school town's mayor

Record ID: 150834

  • Title: FRANCE-CRASH/GERMANWINGS GERMAN MAYOR Students killed in Germanwings crash not forgotten, says German school town's mayor
  • Date: 10th June 2015
  • Summary: HALTERN AM SEE, GERMANY (JUNE 10, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF CITY HALL BODO KLIMPEL, MAYOR OF HALTERN AM SEE, ARRIVING TO SPEAK TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) HALTERN AM SEE MAYOR, BODO KLIMPEL, SAYING: "Ladies and gentlemen, the headmaster and I just arrived from Duesseldorf with the relatives and the children. It might sound a little strange but despite the tragedy,
  • Embargoed: 25th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8PSFKUR5R8VG29UGE4KV12ZM0
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Following the emotional return of the human remains of 16 German students killed in the Germanwings plane crash in March, the mayor of their hometown said on Wednesday (June 10) that they will never be forgotten.
    "It might sound a little strange but despite the tragedy, this is actually a positive day because we finally have our students back in Haltern am See," said Haltern am See mayor, Bodo Klimpel.
    Hundreds of mourners lined the streets of this small town near Duesseldorf in western Germany as hearses carrying the coffins drove past the students' school.
    "I think this was an important signal for the parents and the relatives that their children have not been forgotten and that they remain in our hearts," mayor Klimpel said.
    The headmaster of Haltern's Joseph Koenig high school, Ulrich Wessel, told reporters that the upcoming students' burials would be "a further horrible moment".
    "This day, today, in one way was brutal but at the same time, as the mayor just said, important. The time waiting for the children -- or in one instance the wife -- has come to an end today," the headmaster said.
    The Airbus operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline crashed in the French Alps in March, killing all 150 on board, including 16 students and two teachers from Haltern am See.
    The 10th grade students from the Joseph-Koenig-Gymnasium high school were on their way home after a week-long Spanish exchange program at the Institut Giola in Llinars del Vallès near Barcelona. It was a reciprocal visit after 12 Spanish students had spent a week at their school in December.
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