Press release

Foreign Secretary: Likely that some British nationals were on board Germanwings flight

The Foreign Secretary has said it is likely that there were some British nationals on board Germanwings flight that crashed today in French Alps.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Speaking this evening, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said:

This is a tragic incident for those involved and their families, I send my deepest condolences to those who have lost family or friends.

I don’t want to speculate on numbers of British nationals involved until we have completed our checks on all the passenger information. However, based on the information available to us, it is sadly likely that there were some British nationals on board the flight. We are providing consular assistance and will give further help as more information becomes available. We are working closely with the French, German and Spanish authorities, and the airline, to establish the facts.

The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch, and UK Disaster Victim Identification experts, are also standing by to offer assistance to the French authorities, if required.

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Published 24 March 2015