French Alpine village mourns Germanwings crash victims decade on
The Airbus A320 belonging to Lufthansa's low-cost carrier Germanwings met its end on March 24th, 2015 near the small Alpine village of Le Vernet while on its way from Barcelona to Duesseldorf.
The crash killed all 144 passengers and six crew - a group of people from 20 countries, among them 72 Germans and 50 Spaniards.
Families of the victims in Le Vernet on Monday marked a minute of silence at 10.41am, the exact moment a decade earlier when their loved ones died.
Several French, German and Spanish officials laid wreaths in Le Vernet's cemetery, where unidentified victims were buried in a mass grave.
Advertisement
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said the tragedy still haunted the company and guided its thinking on "responsibility".
Former mayor Bertrand Bartolini told AFP that visiting the crash site, where rescuers retrieved thousands of body parts amid the wreckage, had deeply scarred him.
It was a "place of absolute horror," he said. "I saw things there that I will never be able to talk about."
Grief-stricken families and media soon poured into the remote community, and Bartolini found himself having to sign death certificates for 150 people in multiple copies.
He said he still remembers the German couple who died with their 18-month-old son and the recently married Moroccan couple who had planned to board an earlier flight but were delayed for bureaucratic reasons.
The victims also included 16 students and two teachers from a high school in the western German town of Haltern am See.
The teenagers and staff were heading home after a week-long school exchange in Spain.
But as flight 4U 9525 cruised above France, 27-year-old Andreas Lubitz, who had depression, took the decision that sealed the fate of everyone aboard.
When the pilot, Captain Patrick Sondenheimer, left the cockpit for a bathroom break, Lubitz locked the door behind him and set the autopilot into a steady descent.
In the flight's last minutes, the voice recorder only picks up Lubitz's breathing as he ignores calls from air traffic controllers while the screaming pilot tries to pry open the door with a crowbar.
Nina Theaudin, a German who runs a nearby campsite, helped interpret for the families of the victims when they arrived in Le Vernet afterwards.
Advertisement
She told AFP she had developed long-term relationships with some of those relatives over the years as they returned to the area to hike up to the crash site.
She became friends with the family of a teenage girl from Haltern am See who died in the crash, and her own daughter went to stay with them in 10th grade.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AFP
a day ago
- AFP
Hoax 'Hajj plane crash' claims spread online
"Heartbreaking to hear the news of a plane carrying pilgrims from Mauritania crashing off the coast of the Red Sea while travelling to the holy site. Reports say more than 200 pilgrims died on board," reads a Thai-language Facebook post on May 28, 2025. It includes a minute-long shaky video of a dark plane cabin with audio of prayers from distressed passengers. Image Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on June 4, 2025 "Mauritanian hajj pilgrims plane crash on the shores of the Red Sea, on the way to the holy city of Mecca, more than 210 Hajj pilgrims were martyred in the plane crash," reads another post on Instagram on the same day, written in Indonesian and sharing an image of a destroyed aircraft. Image Screenshot of the false Instagram post taken, on June 5, 2025 Similar posts also appeared elsewhere on Facebook and spread in English and Hindi as more than 1.5 million pilgrims joined Islam's most important rite (archived link). But Mauritania Airlines rejected claims of an aviation disaster in a statement posted on Facebook on May 27, 2025 (archived link). "Some foreign social media pages circulated malicious rumours about the crash of a plane carrying Mauritanian pilgrims off the Red Sea, which is baseless news," it reads in part. It adds all Mauritanian pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia arrived safely. A reverse image search of keyframes from the circulating video found it earlier posted on Instagram on October 29, 2018. AFP previously debunked posts that have misused the clip. David Ditama -- the owner of the Instagram account -- wrote that he had uploaded the footage after the crash of Lion Air flight JT 610 on the day because he wanted to share his traumatic experience from a year earlier (archived link). He told AFP the video was taken on December 11, 2017 during Lion Air flight JT 353 from Padang, in West Sumatra province, to Jakarta. The flight experienced heavy turbulence and engine shutdowns, but landed safely. Image Screenshot comparison between the false Facebook post (L) and the video shared on the Instagram post Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a former spokesperson for Indonesia's disaster agency, said on X on the same day that the clip shows turbulence on flight JT 353 (archived link). "All passengers were safe," the post says. Meanwhile, the image of a destroyed aircraft also shows visual errors that indicate it has been created using AI. Image Screenshot of inconsistencies on false post higlighted by AFP AFP has previously debunked another post falsely claiming a Mauritanian plane carrying Muslim pilgrims had crashed.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Bust attributed to Donatello splits Slovakia
The sculpture of Italian noblewoman Cecilia Gonzaga spent centuries in a manor house in central Slovakia, whose owners, the noble Csaky family, left it behind when they fled the advancing World War II front in 1945. Moved about and ultimately forgotten in the aftermath, it was sitting in a depository at the Spis Museum in the eastern town of Levoca when art historian Marta Herucova stumbled across it. The bust had been marked "unknown author". But Herucova noticed the base was inscribed with the words: "Ceciliae Gonzagae opvs Donatelli" (Cecilia Gonzaga, a work by Donatello). If confirmed, it would be only the eighth artwork signed by the Italian Renaissance sculptor discovered worldwide. Herucova made the find in 2019, but it was only announced in February -- surprising the country. "Who would expect an original Donatello to appear in Slovakia?" former museum director Maria Novotna told AFP. But the bust is now a subject of controversy. Nationalist Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova decided to remove it from the museum and bring it to an unknown location in late May, citing security. The move dismayed critics and art historians, who say the bust needs expert conservation and research to confirm if it is really by Donatello (1386-1466). War story The bust has an epic backstory. After the Csaky family fled, Soviet troops looted their house, which then became a juvenile detention centre for girls after the communist government took over former Czechoslovakia in 1948. The girls played with the bust and even defined its eyes with blue pen, said Peter Cizmar, the son of a former guardian. In 1975, artwork still surviving at the centre was moved to the nearby Spis Museum. Attributed to an unknown 19th-century artist, the bust "was put in a depository and had not left it since", said former director Novotna, an art historian. Novotna was in charge of the museum catalogue as a young worker, and now bemoans a lack of time for research as she was swamped with work. Dinner companion In 2019, Herucova was working on the museum's 19th-century collection when she found the piece. "The bust just came up," she said. After noticing the inscription, she started in-depth research. She suspected forgery, but the material, details and inscription were all too telling, she said. "Even artists who made Renaissance-style busts never signed them in the name of the original author," Herucova told AFP. She wrote about the finding in the French art history magazine Revue de l'Art, waiting for someone to contest the bust's origin -- which has not happened. Herucova also contacted Count Moritz Csaky, who had no clear recollection of its origin either, as his family left for Vienna when he was 11. But he did recall seeing the bust placed on the porch, where the family dined in summer. "He said there used to be two original Gothic statues next to it, which are also in the museum today," Herucova said. 'Safe and protected' Herucova also contacted Italian art history professor Francesco Caglioti, who voiced doubt about the authorship but declined to elaborate. She is now pinning hopes on research in cooperation with foreign institutions. But for now, the bust is hidden away. Simkovicova, the culture minister who ordered it be moved with the help of a police commando, said it was "now safe and protected". Police chief Jana Maskarova later said the bust was at an interior ministry centre in Topolcianky, central Slovakia. Simkovicova promised to display the bust when "conditions are favourable". Herucova hopes the ministry will not try to revamp the bust, which should retain its patina, she said. "It's supposed to go to a professional place where they know how to do lab analyses." Emancipated noblewoman Research suggests the bust was made when Cecilia Gonzaga (1426-1451) became engaged to influential politician Oddantonio da Montefeltro. Her father made the match, seeking to bolster relations between the families, but the well-educated Cecilia chose a life in a convent over marriage. It is known that Cecilia's brother commissioned artworks from Donatello. The Gonzagas later fostered strong ties with the imperial court of Vienna and were united by marriage with the Csaky family. Some studies suggest the bust was made after Cecilia became a nun, possibly based on an earlier coin bearing her likeness. Novotna said she believed the bust was Donatello's work. © 2025 AFP
France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
Millions sit China's high-stakes university entrance exam
Nationwide, 13.35 million students have registered for the multi-subject "gaokao" series this year, according to the Ministry of Education, down from last year's record-high 13.42 million test takers. Outside the central Beijing secondary school, a proud parent who gave her name as Chen said "12 years of hard work have finally led to this moment" -- as she waved a fan in front of her daughter while the student reviewed her notes one last time before the test. "We know our kids have endured so much hardship," Chen told AFP, adding that she was not nervous. "I'm actually quite excited. I think my child is excellent, and I'm sure she will get the best score," she said. China's gaokao requires students to use all their knowledge acquired to this point, testing them on subjects including Chinese, English, mathematics, science and humanities. The exam results are critical for gaining admission to university -- and determining whether they will attend a prestigious or more modest institution. While teachers and staff offered students their support, holding up signs of encouragement, some test takers, dressed in school uniforms, appeared panicked, including a girl with tears in her eyes. "There's no need for us parents to add pressure. The children are already under a lot of it," said a woman named Wang, whose son had just entered the exam hall. Like many mothers, she wore a traditional Chinese qipao in hopes of bringing good luck. "I hope my son achieves immediate success and gets his name on the (list of high-scoring candidates)," Wang said with a smile. Higher education has expanded rapidly in China in recent decades as an economic boom pushed up living standards -- as well as parents' expectations for their children's careers. But the job market for young graduates remains daunting. As of April, 15.8 percent of people aged 16 to 24 living in urban areas were unemployed, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Due to this pressure, many Chinese students prepare for the gaokao from a young age, often with extra lessons after the regular school day. 'Safe gaokao' And every year education authorities are on guard against cheating and disruptions during the exam. This week, China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang called for a "safe gaokao", stressing the importance of a rigorous campaign against cheating. Areas around exam centres are closely guarded by police, with road lanes closed to traffic and several cities banning motorists from honking their horns so as not to disrupt the concentration of students. In some schools, facial recognition is even used to prevent fraud. While the university admission rate for gaokao test takers has exceeded 80-90 percent in recent years, many students disappointed with their results choose to repeat the exam. As there is no age limit for the test, some have become notorious for attempting the exam dozens of times, either after failing it or not getting into their top-choice university. One teacher at the Beijing school where parents saw off their children on Saturday estimated that only about 10 of the approximately 600 final-year students there would earn a place at one of the capital's top universities. Jiang, a final-year high school student who only gave one name, said he dreamt of attending a Beijing university, and was remaining calm shortly before his Chinese exam. "Even though the pressure is intense, it's actually quite fair," he told AFP.
