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1st LD Writethru: EU leaders express condolences over air crash in Southern France

Xinhua, March 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Parliament President Martin Schulz on Tuesday expressed condolences following the Germanwings flight 4U9525 crash in French Alps.

"On behalf of the European Union, I wish to convey my deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the flight that crashed in southern France this morning," Tusk said in a statement.

"Let me also express my sympathy and solidarity to the governments of all affected nations, including to the French president, the German chancellor and the Spanish prime minister," he added.

Juncker in a separate statement said, "It is with deep sorrow that I have learned about the plane crash in France that cost the lives of 150 people."

"In my own name and on behalf of the European Commission, I would like to express my deepest condolences, as well as our European solidarity with the people of France, Germany and Spain," he added.

In his statement, Schulz said, "We grieve this terrible loss which has struck individual people and families as well as nations."

He said on Wednesday, at the opening of its plenary session, the European Parliament will remember the victims with a minute of silence.

An Airbus A320 jet of the German low-cost airline Germanwings with 150 people on board en route from Spain's Barcelona to Germany's Duesseldorf crashed on Tuesday in a remote region of the French Alps.

Passengers on-board the ill-fated plane mostly were German and Spanish citizens and no survivors were expected from the crash, according to French authorities. Endit