|
 French President Francois Hollande said he believed none of those
on board had survived.
"There were 148 people on board," Hollande said. "The conditions of
the accident, which have not yet been clarified, lead us to think
there are no survivors."
He said there was likely to be a significant number of Germans on
the flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf.
He added: "The accident happened in a zone that is particularly hard
to access."
A spokesman for France's DGAC aviation authority said the airliner
crashed near the town of Barcelonnette about 100 km (65 miles) north
of the French Riviera city of Nice. A statement from the prime
minister’s office said the crash happened in Meolans-Revel, a remote
and sparsely inhabited commune in the foothills of the French Alps.
Airbus said it was aware of reports about the crash.
"We are aware of the media reports," Airbus said on Twitter. "All
efforts are now going towards assessing the situation. We will
provide further information as soon as available."
[to top of second column] |
The crashed A320 is 24 years old and has been with the parent
Lufthansa group since 1991, according to online database
airfleets.net
(Reporting by Nicolas Bertin, Jean-Francois Rosnoblet and Sabine
Siebold; Editing by Mark John and James Regan and Giles Elgood)
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