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Monday,
31 July, 2000, 13:22 GMT 14:22 UK
Families wiped out in crash
Moenchengladbach cries for its
victims
The victims of the AF4590 crash include all 109 people on board and
five who died on the ground when the plane crashed into the Hotelissimo.
German Concorde victims
|
49 women and 47 men
3 children died
Paid up to $ 10,000 each
Most were over 60
Oldest victim: 91
Youngest victim: 7
|
In addition to the 96
German passengers were two Danes, an American and an Australian. The
nine crew were all French.
The passengers were
flying to New York to join a Caribbean cruise for a "vacation of
a lifetime".
Many people were
travelling with their spouses, children or elderly parents, and
in some cases whole families were wiped out. Three children were
among the dead.
This plane crash was different. This time
it was our friends, our families, our beloved ones
|
Monika Bartsch, Moenchengladbach Mayor
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The western German city
of Moenchengladbach was the worst hit by the tragedy. Thirteen of
its leading citizens, including the director of a business school,
a furniture shop owner and the head of a security company, died in
the Concorde crash.
Both rich and
poor among the dead
Although some of
the passengers were local celebrities, others were teachers and
post office clerks who had saved up for years for the trip.
As in any other
tragedy, behind the names of the victims lie human stories of lives
and dreams abruptly cut off.
1,700 townspeople
attended a memorial service on Saturday
|
Saved by a cardiac
arrest
Others stories from
the tragedy also include news of people who escaped death.
Actor Guenter Pfitzman:
a heart attack saved him
|
A prominent Berlin actor,
Guenter Pfitzmann, was booked aboard the plane but cancelled at the
last moment because of heart problems.
Herr Pfitzmann,
76, is known in Germany for starring in the medical drama The Buelowbogen
Practice.
"It is terrible
to think that we might have been aboard that plane," his wife said.
"Our hearts go out to the families of the dead."
Another 33 German
passengers booked on the same cruise escaped death. Because of the
limited seating aboard the Concorde, they were sent to New York
on another supersonic flight before the accident.
|
|
|
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The
safety changes
A
supersonic future?
The
PR offensive
The
commercial case
|
What
went wrong?
The
crew's last words
Tyre
problems
Q&A:
Crucial questions
|
Countdown
to catastrophe
Crash
eyewitness
In
pictures
|
|
INTERACTIVE
GUIDE |
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|
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TALKING
POINT |
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Can
Concorde regain its status?
|
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FORUM |
|
Concorde
pilot quizzed
|
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FROM
THE ARCHIVE |
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|
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AUDIO
VIDEO |
|
Concorde
since the crash - BBC coverage
|
|
See also:
31
Jul 00 | Europe
Concorde
talks amid safety scares
27
Jul 00 | Europe
Germany
in grief
29
Jul 00 | Europe
Flashback:
'My Concorde tyre drama'
Internet links:
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