Anger over coal power stations
MUTTAGI: Despite mounting protests, Japan continues to finance the building of coal-fired power plants with money earmarked for fighting climate change, with two new projects under way in India and Bangladesh.
Japanese officials say they are counting $630 million (R7.4 billion) in loans for coal climate finance, angering critics who say such financing should be going to clean energy.
SThe youngsters were returning from a nine-day exchange trip in Barcelona when the plane crashed in a remote region of the French Alps.
It has now emerged the schoolchildren almost escaped death because one 15-yearold girl had left her passport behind.
But, in a tragic twist, her host family offered to race the girl and all her travel documents to the airport in Barcelona directly, allowing them all to get on the flight in time.
At Dusseldorf Airport, parents who had expected to welcome their children home were in tears as news of the horrifying crash began to break.
The distressed families were ushered into private rooms at the airport by the police and representatives of Germanwings, where they were offered counselling.
The students killed were from the JosephKoenig-Gymnasium school in Western Germany, an English-speaking grammar.
Several distraught family members were expected to be flown out to the Alps last night – while Angela Merkel prepared for a visit to the crash site.
Bodo Klimpel, mayor of Haltern am See near Dusseldorf, said: “The state of shock that is palpable everywhere, that is pretty much the worst that anyone could imagine.
“On the boarding list of the plane which crashed there are 16 students from our school and there are two teachers.
“They were listed by name and the school director has received confirmation from Spain that the students did board the plane, with the teachers accompanying them. Rescue services have not been able to reach the crash site which means we have no final confirmation of the worst, however, we have to assume the worst.”
The German students had spent over a week with the families of Spanish children who attend the Giola institute in Llinars del Valles, near Barcelona, to study the Spanish language.
One student at the Spanish school, Anna Garcia, said: “One of the German girls left a bag with all her travel documents inside at her host family’s home. So they didn’t hold the rest of the group up, the family took her to the airport and she was able to board the plane.
“Our German teacher is very affected by the news. He says he has to put on a brave face for the pupils’ sake, but he is going through a very bad time.”
Memorial services are expected to take place at the German and Spanish schools for the youngsters and their teachers this morning, and the Spanish government announced three days of national mourning.
As messages of condolence flooded in from politicians and celebrities, national German football team player Benedikt Höwedes tweeted: “Our sympathies to the victims and their families of this tragic aircraft accident. Any one of us could have been sitting on board that plane.”
The budget airline, an arm of Lufthansa, has set up an emergency hotline to comfort those waiting in arrivals.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the passengers and crew members,” said Lufthansa in a statement as the German nation went into mourning for the dead.
The Dusseldorf-Barcelona route is one of the most popular offered by Germanwings, which has a reputation in Germany for reliability and economy. – Daily Mail