State memorial for Germanwings plane crash victims held

Germany on Friday held a official state memorial ceremony here to remember the victims of a Germanwings flight that crashed last month killiing 150 people.

The ceremony took place at the Cologne Cathedral, attended by German leaders including Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck and family members of the victims.

While the service was proceeding at the cathedral, hundreds of mourners gathered in front of a giant screen erected on the square outside the Cathedral to watch live broadcasting.

A total of 150 candles were lit for every victim on board the flight 4U9525, which crashed in the French Alps while travelling from Barcelona to Duesseldorf on March 24.

Preliminary investigation found that the co-pilot of the flight Andreas Lubitz was believed to deliberately lowered the height of the airliner and crashed it.

Addressing the mourners, Gauck said people were united through sadness and pain and found themselves closer to each other.

Gauck said that people really do not know what the co-pilot was thinking and the senselessness of what happened maybe is what brought such a shock to people. Endi