(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Germany-Flags flutter at half-mast outside the church where hundreds of candles are lit for a memorial service for the 16 pupils and two teachers from one German school killed in the French Alps air disaster.
Normal life in the small northwestern town of Haltern am See is all but "paralysed" with shock and grief, local officials say, after the brutal loss of so many young lives last week on a remote mountainside in southeastern France.
A steady flow of people have signed a condolence book at the central St Sixte Church where an ecumenical religious service was held Wednesday to remember the victims of a school that has become a symbolic focal point of national mourning.
"Paula, we miss you. Rest in Peace," reads one message in rounded, childlike handwriting with a heart.
Loudspeakers were set up outside the doors of the church for those unable to find a seat inside and ready to brave the glacial winds.
Among the 150 people who died when the Germanwings jetliner crashed were 14 girls and two boys aged 15 and 16 and their two teachers from the Joseph Koenig Gymnasium who were returning from an exchange trip to Spain.
Half the victims onboard the flight headed from Barcelona to Duesseldorf were German.
Uppermost on people's minds in Haltern was showing solidarity with the victims' families.
At the station, school pupils Eric Orban and Jakow Styeklov, aged 18 and 17, have travelled from the city of Duesseldorf, an hour away, to attend the ceremony.
"We've come to grieve and say goodbye," they say.
The incomprehension of the loss is all the more intensified by investigator's suspicions that the plane's co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately steered it into the mountain.
"As a Christian, I cannot forgive him for the moment," Markus Delitsch, 52, said, lighting a candle.
His son attends the same school as those who died, and since the crash, he and his family have held conversations at home to try to take in what happened, he said.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.