BERLIN – Plans to repatriate the remains of those killed in the crash of Germanwings flight 9525 have been put on hold because of errors on death certificates, angering relatives who had intended to start burying their loved ones next week.
A lawyer representing several German families said Thursday they had been informed by Germanwings' parent company Lufthansa that the remains wouldn't be flown from Marseille, France, to Duesseldorf on June 9 and 10 as planned, and that no new date has been set. About half of the 150 people killed were German.
"Anger and despair are growing," said Elmar Giemulla, an attorney whose clients include relatives of 16 German students who died coming back from an exchange trip to Spain.
Giemulla said the families had organized funerals starting June 12, which would now have to be called off.
A Germanwings spokesman said the delay -- which also affects the repatriation of victims from other countries -- was caused by errors in the official death certificates that had rendered them invalid.
"We know how important this is to the relatives and we will try to find a solution as soon as possible," Joachim Schoettes told The Associated Press.
Prosecutors in France and Germany believe co-pilot Andreas Lubitz intentionally crashed the plane in the French Alps on March 24. Lubitz had been hiding psychological problems from his employer, prosecutors say.
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