Memorial service held for Germanwings tragedy victims

Political and religious leaders together with the bereaved relatives have attended a memorial service for the victims of the doomed Germanwings passenger airliner that crashed into a mountain in the French Alps.

On Friday, mourners left flowers and lit candles on the stairways leading to the historic Cologne Cathedral, and outside the city’s nearby main railway station.

A white flag decorated with a black cross hung outside the cathedral, while in front of the altar 150 candles were lit, one for each of those killed in the tragic event.

Relatives accepted small wooden angels representing the victims, and wept as opera singer Luiza Fatyol performed “Pie Jesu,” a frequent part of requiem masses.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck along with ministers from France and Spain took part in the ecumenical service.

President Gauck said the tragedy had left Germany in a state of “enormous shock.”

“Train drivers, ship captains and pilots must all be people we trust -- they bear the responsibility for the lives of many people,” he said, adding, “If this trust in such a sensitive area is abused, it strikes us to the bone. As we heard the terrible news, we also sensed it could have been any of us.”

Germany’s health monitoring and assessing of cabin crew came under scrutiny after the aircraft belonging to Germanwings, a subsidiary to Lufthansa, crashed in the French Alps en route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf on March 24.

A record from the plane’s cockpit revealed that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was alone when the aircraft began its descent. Findings have also shown that Lubitz had locked his captain out of the cockpit during the flight.

Following the crash, it was revealed that the co-pilot had sought medical treatment for vision problems and depression shortly before the fatal incident.

Lubitz, suspected of crashing the plane deliberately, had been diagnosed by health officials as suicidal “several years” prior to the incident, according to German prosecutors. Furthermore, he had allegedly told officials at an airline training school that he had suffered severe depression in the past.

The 27-year-old had been treated by neurologists and psychiatrists for the medical condition. Lubitz had been on sick leave at a number of times and was signed off sick on the day of the crash.

MP/HSN/SS

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