Remains of Spanish Germanwings crash victims repatriated

The remains of 32 Spanish victims of the Germanwings flight that crashed into the French Alps in March were flown back to Spain on Monday aboard a specially fitted plane.

The MD11 transport plane, operated by Germanwings parent company Lufthansa, arrived in Barcelona from the southern French city of Marseille at around 5:00 pm (1500 GMT), an airport spokesman told AFP.

Relatives of the victims and leading politicians, including Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, were on hand for the arrival of the 32 coffins in an area of the airport, which was off limits to the press.

Last week, a similar flight repatriated the remains of 44 German victims of the March 24 crash, which was deliberately initiated by co-pilot Andreas Lubitz.

"The firm's aim is to be able to repatriate all the bodies by the end of the month," a Lufthansa representative told AFP in Marseille.

All 150 people aboard the ill-fated flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf were killed, including 72 Germans and 50 Spaniards.

On Thursday, the French prosecutor leading the investigation into the disaster said he had launched a probe to see if anyone was liable for manslaughter.

Lubitz, whom suffered from "psychosis" according to prosecutors, saw 41 doctors over the course of five years and was terrified of losing his sight.

However the doctors he consulted -- including one who booked him off work two days before the flight -- could not reveal his mental struggles, due to doctor-patient confidentiality rules.