Cologne, Germany - Germany will hold a memorial service Friday to mourn the victims of last month's Germanwings crash, blamed on a depressed co-pilot believed to have deliberately steered the plane into a mountain.
Flags were flying at half-mast nationwide for the 150 dead as political and religious leaders were to join hundreds of bereaved relatives at a midday (1000 GMT) service at Cologne's historic cathedral.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck will attend the ecumenical service in the western city along with Spain's Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz and French Transport Minister Alain Vidalies.
Lufthansa chief Carsten Spohr will also attend, as will three executives of its low-cost subsidiary Germanwings, Thomas Winkelmann, Axel Schmidt and Oliver Wagner, the company said.
About 1,500 guests are expected for the service, among them 500 relatives of the victims, in northern Europe's largest Gothic church, which will also be broadcast live on screens outside the cathedral and to viewers nationwide.
Ursula Mund, 53, said she would be among those watching on the large square in the city centre.
"Of course this is a special occasion. We have all talked a lot about what happened and are still baffled by it," she said.
"We are still saddened and I feel very moved today."
Michael Senker, 62, said he would follow the ceremony on television.
"It's important to me to watch because all of Germany has been particularly affected by this tragedy," he said.
"We all feel touched by this horrible catastrophe."
AFP
