Victims of the Germanwings 4U 9525 plane crash

PARIS, France (UPDATED) – Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 that crashed with no survivors in the French Alps on Tuesday was carrying 144 passengers and six crew from 18 countries, according to the budget airline’s parent company Lufthansa.

Most of those on board were Spanish or German but others came from as far afield as Australia and Colombia.

Authorities are in the process of confirming the nationalities of the victims, a task complicated by the fact that a number of travellers had dual nationality, which might explain discrepancies in some of the figures. 

Here is what is known of the victims: 

Germany

Germanwings confirmed that at least 72 Germans were on board, including two babies, 16 teenage school pupils and their two female teachers from Haltern, a town north of Duesseldorf. 

The group had been on a week-long exchange trip near Barcelona.

Kazakh-German opera singer Oleg Bryjak, 54, who had just performed in Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried” in Barcelona, was also among the dead.

Spain

At least 51 Spaniards died, junior security minister Francisco Martinez told a news conference. 

However, Germanwings official Thomas Winkelmann said the latest estimate was that 35 passengers were Spanish.

Reports named one Spanish victim as Marina Bandres Lopez-Belio, 37, and her baby, a British national. Originally from the Spanish Pyrenees but living in Britain, Lopez-Belio had been attending a relative’s funeral in Spain. 

Other victims included a young married couple as well as numerous Catalan business figures, including four members of the same family.

Other EU countries

At least three British nationals died, according to British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.

The deaths of one Belgian, one Dutch woman and one Dane have also been confirmed by the airline and local authorities. 

United States

Three Americans lost their lives in the crash, the State Department said.

South America

Two Argentines were on board, according to Germanwings. A third, who lived in Paraguay, also died, according to his brother.

Two Mexicans were also on board, the government said.

Colombians Maria del Pilar Tejada and Luis Eduardo Medrano died, their country’s foreign ministry said.

Two Venezuelans were killed, according to Germanwings.

A Chilean woman who was living in Venezuela was also among the dead, Chile’s ambassador to France said.

Australia

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said two Australians were on board.

Japan

The Japanese foreign ministry said two male citizens were on the passenger list — Satoshi Nagata and Junichi Sato. Both men lived in Duesseldorf. “It is very likely that they were on board,” a ministry official told Agence France-Presse in Tokyo.

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry confirmed that three of its citizens – Erbol and Adil Imankulov and Aizhan Isengaliyeva – were among the dead. 

The ministry said it was trying to confirm whether a fourth passenger held Kazakh citizenship. 

Middle East

A newly married Moroccan couple headed for a new life in Germany were on the doomed plane, a relative said.

Two Iranians were also on the flight, according to Germanwings.

One Israeli was also among the victims, the airline said.

The ‘lucky ones’

A Swedish third division football team booked on the flight changed their reservation at the last minute after deciding to change their route home.

Upon arrival at Barcelona airport, the Dalkurd FF team from central Sweden decided the stopover in Duesseldorf would be too long and booked themselves on three other flights flying via Zurich and Munich.

“We were supposed to be on that plane,” sporting director Adil Kizil said. – Rapple.com