Remains of victims of plane crash head home

Associated Press

DUESSELDORF, Germany

After more than two months of waiting, families of the 150 people killed when a Germanwings plane smashed into the French Alps in March finally will start burying their loved ones as the airline’s parent company begins sending home victims’ remains.

Lufthansa sent coffins with the remains of 44 victims by cargo plane Tuesday night from Marseille, France, to Duesseldorf, Germany, where Germanwings flight 9525 from Barcelona was supposed to land March 24.

Instead, authorities say, the co-pilot purposely slammed the plane into a mountainside.

“The families are in denial. They cannot and do not want to realize that their children are dead,” said Elmar Giemulla, a lawyer for families of 34 of the victims. “It will be brutal when they see the coffins tomorrow, but it is necessary because they need closure, and that’s only possible if they accept that their children are dead.”

Giemulla’s clients include relatives of 16 students from one high school in Haltern, Germany, who were on their way home from a school exchange program when they died.