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Germanwings plane crash: Julie Bishop confirms two Australians were on board Germanwings plane crash: Julie Bishop confirms two Australians were on board
(about 1 hour later)
Two Australian victims were on board the Germanwings Airbus A-320 that crashed in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board, Julie Bishop has said. Two Australians are among the 150 people presumed dead after Germanwings flight 4U9525 crashed in the French alps overnight, foreign minister Julie Bishop has confirmed.
The Foreign Affairs minister told reporters on Wednesday morning the two Australians were a woman and her adult son from Victoria. The victims are a mother and her adult son from Victoria.
The department was seeking to identify whether any of the other passengers were Australian citizens or residents. “It would not be appropriate to disclose further details of our citizens at this stage due to privacy considerations of the family,” Bishop told reporters early on Wednesday morning. “Further details, as the family agrees to the release of those details will be made.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of this shocking tragedy,” Bishop said. The foreign minister said that the Australian government is “seeking to identify if there were any other Australians, dual nationals or permanent residents on this flight.”
She said she had spoken to the Australian ambassador in France, Stephen Brady, who was co-ordinating the removal of bodies with the French authorities. Consular officials were travelling to the town of Gap to help with identificati0n of the bodies. The airbus A320 was flying between Barcelona and Dusseldorf when it went down at around 9pm Australian standard time in the small town of Barcelonette, 100km north of Nice in France.
She said if anyone had concerns for friends or relatives who might have been on board the flight they should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs emergency centre on 1300 555135 from Australia, or + 61 2 6261 3305 from outside the country. Bishop and prime minister Tony Abbott are expected to send their personal condolences to their French, Spanish and German counterparts once the details of the crash become clear.
MORE TO COME “At this stage it appears Germany, France and Spain were the countries most affected,” Bishop said.
Several minors were believed to have been on the flight, including 16 German schoolchildren who were returning from an exchange program in Spain.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of all those killed but particularly with the loved ones of the two Australians who have lost their lives,” Abbott told reporters on Wednesday. “Our consular officials are doing what they can for the families.”
Australian consular officials will travel to the crash site to help at the incident coordination centre.
“French authorities have given permission for consular officials to travel to a town called Gap where they will liaise with French authorities on the location of the recovery effort, including where the remains will be identified, and we will be setting up a mobile office in that location” the foreign minister said.
“Early this morning, I spoke to the Australian ambassador in France, Stephen Brady. He is still establishing with the French authorities the process of the removal of bodies. There are legalities involved,” Bishop said.
Germanwings is a subsidiary of German carrier Lufthansa, which has an impeccable safety record. The reasons for the crash are still unknown.
“Lufthansa and all of its activities have been absolutely top class,” aviation expert Desmond Ross told ABC TV on Wednesday. “They are one of the world’s leading airlines. They don’t cut corners on maintenance, they don’t cut corners on pilot training or engineering training.”
“One would expect that Germanwings as their subsidiary would be operating to the high standards that they would. So I initially can’t start to assume any issues with their maintenance procedures. I would suspect that they were all absolutely top line,” Ross said.
“The aircraft is an old aircraft, 24, 25 years old we’re being told. Some countries now do not permit aircraft of more than 20 years to be used in passenger service but that rule has not been introduced in Germany or France at this point in time.”