By Jose Serrano (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Mar 24, 2015 08:13 PM EDT
Tags Germanwings Flight 9525, Germanwings Flight 9525 crash, Germanwings crash, Germanwings Flight crash, german airbus crash, german airbus a320 crash, german flight crash, alps crash, Germanwings Flight 9525 crash victims, Germanwings Flight 9525 crash update, Germanwings Flight crash update

In what German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called "a picture of horror," all passengers aboard Germanwings Flight 9525 were likely killed Tuesday morning as their flight crashed along the Alps.

Officials said air-traffic controllers lost contact with Airbus A320 at 10:53 a.m. local time just as it landed near the popular Pra Loup ski resort, airline CEO Thomas Winkelmann said. The flight was already delayed - en route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf- before its fatal eight-minute descent.

Debris from the crash has been located 6,800 feet above elevation, and one of the flight's black boxes was found about 65 miles north of the Riviera city of Nice.

Winkelmann said 144 passengers and six crew members were aboard; at least 67 were German. "It's a tragedy on our soil," French President Francois Hollande said in a live address. "This is a mourning period, because this is a tragedy that has happened on our territory. I intend to find out if there were other consequences of the accident, and we will find out more in the hours to come." Among the missing are 16 students and two school teachers returning from an exchange program in Spain. Two German singers - bass baritone Oleg Bryjak and contralto Maria Radner- who were in Barcelona to perform in Richard Wagner's "Siegfried" were also among the passengers. Victor Barrio, the mayor of small Spanish town Jaca, said townswoman Marina Bandres and her baby boy died in the crash as the two returned from a relative's funeral.

The World Cup champion German soccer federation said the national team will play with armbands when it faces Australia in a friendly Wednesday. They will have a moment of silence before kick-off.

Several Germanwings flights were canceled after crews refused to fly after details emerged that Airbus A320 was grounded for repairs a day earlier. Pilots and crews had concerns Tuesday that the crash may have been linked to similar repairs on other planes.

President Obama offered his condolences before a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, calling the crash "particularly heartbreaking because it apparently includes the loss of so many children."

Obama added, "Our thoughts and our prayers are with our friends in Europe." The President said he spoke with Chancellor Merkel and plans to speak with Spain's president.

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