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Students on Germanwings flight were chosen for Barcelona trip in a draw

Residents of Haltern am See say 10 of the 16 spots on the ill-fated trip to Barcelona were decided by a draw.

Nicole Graaf
Students gather at a memorial of flowers and candles in front of the Joseph Koenig Gymnasium secondary school in Haltern am See, Germany, on March 24, 2015
Students gather at a memorial of flowers and candles in front of the Joseph Koenig Gymnasium secondary school in Haltern am See, Germany, on March 24, 2015

The drawing of lots sealed the fates of 10 students on the ill-fated Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps yesterday.

The Grade 10 Spanish class from Joseph-König secondary school sent 16 students on the exchange trip to Barcelona, and residents of Haltern am See in Germany say the 10 spots allocated by draw went mostly to female students.

"My son tried calling [his friend] several times at noon when he heard about the plane crash,” said one mother, who was mourning the unexplained crash of Germanwings flight 4U 9525 outside the school last night. “But the cell phone just kept ringing."

She said they were very good friends – “she was at our place very frequently”.

Despite scheduled exams, the school remains closed today. Because Haltern am See has only 40,000 residents, most people know someone who lost a friend or family member in the crash.

Live blog: Germanwings Airbus crashes in French Alps

“It is unfathomable,” said Andreas Pöter, who visited the school last night with his two daughters, in Grade 5 and Grade 8. Their German teacher was among the victims.

German flags fly at half-staff in front of the St. Sixtus Church in Haltern Germany
German flags fly at half-staff in front of the St. Sixtus Church in Haltern Germany

After leaving flowers at the school, Pöter said he would continue to St Sixtus Church in the centre of Haltern, where 20 ministers were on hand to offer comfort.

“The only thing we can do is to listen,” said Ingo Janzen, who came from the neighbouring town of Recklinghausen to offer support. “[We] go over to anyone who is mourning all alone.”

Janzen was among those at the school when the news was broken to relatives and said their reactions ranged from disbelief to utter despair. His colleague Frank Jendrusiak said many of the students needed someone to talk to. “Mainly at noon, when it was certain what had happened, many students talked to us,” he said.

Ilybere Bayrami was at the church with her daughters to light a candle, but did not stay for long, because she didn’t want her 3-year-old to bother the mourners.

"I never thought that a German plane could ever crash, considering the good engineering", said the 26-year-old Kosovan. "Our hearts grieve with the others. I won't be boarding a plane again so easily."

- Adapted from a report by Nicole Graaf for Yahoo Germany