TWO famous opera singers who had just performed at Barcelona's Liceu Theatre were on board Germanwings flight 4U 9525 yesterday morning when it crashed in the French Alps with no survivors.
Contralto Maria Radner,34, was travelling with her husband and baby, and Baritone Oleg Bryjak, 54, originally from Kazakhstan, both part of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein had been performing Siegfried in Spain's second city and were returning home to Düsseldorf.
A British resident, Marina Bandres, 37, originally from Aragón and her seven-month-old son Julián, are among the deceased.
Germanwings cancelled seven flights last night and is expected to cancel up to 30 more today after crew members refused to fly, saying they were too badly affected by the news of the crash and the deaths of six of their colleagues.
Teenagers in the Barcelona town of Llinars del Vallès are distraught to learn 16 German exchange pupils from the Joseph König Gymnasium high school in Haltern, who had been staying with them for the past week, have been reported dead .
Another 35 exchange students of the same age from Hamburg, also staying in the town, were due to fly home this morning and were said to be terrified.
One of the girls fainted when she heard about the crash, at the thought that she would be on the very same route the following day.
The victims confirmed so far include two Australians – Carol Friday, 68 and her son Greig, 29, from Melbourne – two Colombians identified as María del Pilar Tejada and Luis Eduardo Medrano Aragón, two Japanese nationals, two Argentinians and three who may be Mexican.
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