The bodies of 44 victims who died in the Germanwings plane crash have arrived in Dusseldorf, Germany. Lufthansa Airlines, parent company of Germanwings, repatriated the victims' remains in a cargo plane on Tuesday, allowing family members to finally bury their loved ones, reported BBC News.
In March, Germanwings flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps after the pilot deliberately sent the aircraft into its descent, killing 149 people, including children on board the airplane.
The relatives of the victims will be able to see the coffins in a hangar at the Dusseldorf Airport on Wednesday. Death certificate errors and the logistical difficulties of locating the victims' remains in the remote mountain area of the crash is what caused the delay in the arrival of the bodies, according to New York Daily News.
"The families are in denial. They cannot and do not want to realize that their children are dead," said Elmar Giemulla, a lawyer representing families of 34 of the crash victims, including family members of 16 high school students who were returning home from a school exchange program, when they died, according to The New York Post.
"It will be brutal when they see the coffins tomorrow, but it is necessary, because they need closure and that's only possible if they accept that their children are dead."
"Now, if the coffins are returning, the parents will know: This is really a fact, it's not just news," he said.
"After this first special flight to Duesseldorf, the other victims will be gradually transferred to their home countries in the coming weeks," Lufthansa said in a statement, NDTV reported.
Lufthansa released a statement saying that the remains of the other crash victims would also be flown to their home countries over the coming weeks. "The French authorities are working hard in order to create the formal conditions for the transfer of the victims as soon as possible," the statement read further.
The airline also stated that it was in communication with family members of the crash victims in order to make sure that the transfer of the remains is done as per their wishes.
