English
Officials Investigate Deadly Madrid Plane Crash
 Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The exact cause of the crash is unknown |
Spanish and German officials have begun an investigation that seeks to explain a tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of at least 153 people. It was one of Europe’s worst air tragedies in decades.
Of the 162 passengers and 10 crew on board the Spanair jet bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 19 people survived with severe injuries, according to Spain’s Transport Minister Magdalena Alvarez.
Two black boxes were found at the crash site and were to be examined Thursday.
Three day’s official mourning have been declared by Madrid’s regional government, while people gathered at the central Plaza de Cibeles square for a minute’s silence at midday on Thursday.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has visited several of the 19 survivors, while King Juan Carlos has extended his condolences to relatives of those who perished in the tragedy.
Zapatero interrupted his vacation to travel to the scene of the accident. “The government is overwhelmed, very affected, as are all Spanish citizens, by this tragedy,” he said
Technical problems
One engine of the Spanair MD-82, which also had a Lufthansa flight number, reportedly caught fire as the jet attempted to take off from Madrid-Barajas airport at 2:45 p.m. local time Wednesday.
Experts were divided on whether the fire in the engine was the cause of the accident.
Spanish media said the plane’s take-off had been delayed for one hour while an exterior temperature gauge was repaired.
A Spanair official, Javier Mendoza, said Thursday that an air intake valve on the plane had reported overheating under the cockpit before takeoff, the press agency AP reported. Technicians fixed the problem by turning it off, he said, adding that this was an accepted procedure..
German investigators join in
Because the flight was a code sharing agreement with German carrier Lufthansa, Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) is assisting Spanish authorities in identifying the victims of the accident.
Spain had accepted an offer by the German government overnight, a BKA spokeswoman said.
“We are anxious for more information on whether German citizens are involved,” she said.
The nationalities of the victims and survivors have not been confirmed, though Spanish media reported that four Germans, two Swedes, a Chilean and a Colombian were aboard the plane.
Lufthansa said initially that seven passengers had checked in on the German carrier’s flight number and that four of them were Germans. The German embassy in Madrid said it was in close contact with the Spanish authorities.
Condolences from across Europe
Words of sympathy poured in Wednesday from political leaders across Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was shocked by the number of dead and injured and had sent a message to Zapatero, said her spokesman.
“At this sad moment, Italy, united with your country by traditional bonds of friendship, feels particularly close to the Spanish people, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano told Spanish King Juan Carlos.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown were also among those who expressed their deep sadness.
The accident was Spain’s worst air disaster since 180 people were killed when a Colombian aircraft crashed in Madrid in 1983. The deadliest plane crash in the history of civil aviation also occurred in Spain, when two Boeing 747s collided at Tenerife airport on the Canary Islands in 1977 — 583 people were killed. Subscribe=>
Source: DW More Top News
Hollywood heavyweights Robert De Niro and Al Pacino reunited on the red carpet in New York Wednesday night for the premiere of their new crime thriller “Righteous Kill” — their first film together since making 1995’s “Heat.”
The movie also stars
The Pakistani Army has been given orders to retaliate against any unilateral strike by the Afghanistan-based US troops inside the country.
Army Spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed the orders in a brief interview with Geo News on late Thursday night.
The
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he will not accept military action or new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear activities.
“We should not take any unilateral steps. It is not acceptable to opt for a military scenario. It would be dangerous,”
As the world marks the seventh anniversary of 9/11, some European experts say security improvements in the US have been undercut by fairly basic mistakes. Among the remedies is more trust in America’s laws and allies.
Seven years after the attacks
David Miliband has allegedly come in for a rather undiplomatic tongue-lashing from his Russian counterpart.
The Foreign Secretary was apparently given a furious dressing down by Sergei Lavrov over the telephone.
Mr Miliband’s criticism of Russia’s recent incursion into Georgia is believed
PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa - A South African judge ruled Friday that prosecutors were wrong to charge ANC President Jacob Zuma with corruption, effectively clearing way for the 66-year-old former freedom fighter to become the country’s next president.
Judge Chris Nicholson’s ruling
Thailand’s political turmoil deepened Friday when the ruling coalition failed to turn up to parliament to reelect leader Samak Sundaravej as prime minister.
Lawmakers from the six-party coalition did not attend an emergency session of parliament called to choose a prime minister, three days after a court stripped Samak of power for accepting payments for hosting