All human remains at Germanwings crash site identified

PanARMENIAN.Net - All the human remains found at the scene of the Germanwings air crash have been identified and will be returned to their families, a French prosecutor said, according to BBC News.

The plane crashed in the French Alps on March 24 with 150 people on board.

Investigators say co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed the plane after locking the pilot out of the cockpit. Experts have spent six weeks conducting DNA tests on the remains.

"The 150 death certificates can now be signed, as well as the 150 burial permits," said Brice Robin, Marseille's city prosecutor.

Robin had previously said it was Lubitz's "intention to destroy [the] plane", which was flying from Barcelona to Duesseldorf.

Among the victims was a group of 16 students, 14 girls and two boys, and two of their teachers, from Joseph-Koenig school in Haltern, western Germany.

They were travelling back from a Spanish exchange program on the Germanwings flight.

The victims were from 18 countries, including Australia, Argentina and Japan, but most of those on board were either Spanish or German.

The plane took off from Barcelona just after 09:00 GMT on March 24. It made its last contact with air traffic control half an hour later, before descending over the following ten minutes.

The Airbus plane crashed in a remote, snow-covered region at 09:41GMT.

On March 26, French investigators said information from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) found at the crash zone revealed that Lubitz had taken over the controls of the plane and sent it into a dive intentionally.

A full investigation report is expected to be completed in a year.