At first light on Wednesday, rescue teams restarted their recovery mission searching for the victims of the air crash that shocked the whole of Europe the day before. Nearly 500 people, among them gendarmes, fire crews, members of the armed forces and technical personnel are all in the remote are of the French Alps where flight GWI9525, from the low-cost airline Germanwings, crashed.
The flight was carrying 144 passengers – 67 Germans and 45 people with Spanish surnames – and six crew members. None of them survived the impact. The causes of the accident are still unknown, although the recovery of one of the flight’s black boxes on Tuesday will prove key to determining what happened.
The movement of emergency vehicles was intensified from 7am onwards, as soon as the sun came up in Seyne-les-Alpes, which is just a few kilometers from the crash site and where the emergency crews are working.
A spokesperson for the French Interior Ministry, Pierre-Henry Brandet, announced that the ground was being prepared for helicopter flights to restart, news agency Efe reported.
A column of gendarmes headed to the zone on foot, after having to suspend their recovery work on Tuesday due to the snowy conditions. The authorities are trying to create a path to the area where the remains of the Airbus A320 are scattered. The zone was being guarded on Tuesday night by five gendarmes.
During the night the area saw heavy snow, and there are concerns that the weather conditions today will not favor rescue work. While the clouds are very high, helping the helicopters, there is a chance of rain and windy conditions during the day, according to meteorological services.
“It will take days to recover the victims,” explained police officical Jean-Paul Bloy. Spain is due to send six police officers and civil guards to the site to assist with the identification of the victims.
wednesday 25 March 2015
http://elpais.com/elpais/2015/03/25/inenglish/1427269150_520807.html
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