Germanwings Flight 4U9525 victims include opera singers, high school students

Two opera singers, an Australian mother and son on holiday, and 16 German 10th-grade students returning from an exchange in Spain were among the victims in Tuesday's crash of Germanwings Flight 4U9525 in the southern French Alps, which claimed the lives of 150 people.

Three Americans were killed in the crash, including mother and daughter Yvonne and Emily Selke, of Virginia.

The family of the two women issued a statement asking for privacy and saying they were deeply saddened by the loss of "two wonderful, caring, amazing people, who meant so much to so many." 

The third American, identified as Robert Oliver Calvo, 37, was born in Spain, but is a U.S. citizen. He worked for a fashion company and had a wife and two children.

His father, Robert Tansill Oliver, urged the families of other victims not to dwell on the horror of the final moments before the crash. 

"I'd like to encourage them to think about the wonderful years that they had enjoyed," he said. 

Two Iranian journalists, Milad Hojjatoleslami and Hossein Javadi, were also aboard the plane. They had travelled to Spain to cover a soccer match.

The Deutsche Oper am Rhein said bass-baritone Oleg Bryjak, 54, was returning from Barcelona, where he had sung Alberich in Richard Wagner's Siegfried at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. Bryjak was born in Kazakhstan.

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"We have lost a great performer and a great person in Oleg Bryjak," opera director Christoph Meyer said. "We are stunned."

The Liceu opera house said the other singer on the flight was Duesseldorf-born Maria Radner, 34, who died along with her husband and baby.

"Our deepest sympathies to family, friends & colleagues of Maria Radner, Oleg Bryjak & all who lost loved ones today," tweeted Canadian Opera Company general director Alexander Neef on Tuesday.

Neef wrote that Radner was due to perform the role of Erda in the COC's production of Siegfried next season.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said the two Australian victims on the flight were Melbourne nurse Carol Friday, 68, and her son Greig, 29, an engineer. ABC said the two had been on holiday together in Europe.

A town outside of Barcelona said the victims includes three generations from one Spanish family — a schoolgirl, her mother and grandmother.

In the western German town of Haltern, about 80 kilometres northeast of Duesseldorf, friends and families mourned the loss of 14 girls, two boys and their two teachers. 

"We are a town of 38,000," Mayor Bodo Klimpel, whose son attends the same school as the victims, said on ARD television. "It's only natural that you know some people personally."

Lara Beer's best friend, Paula, was on the flight. "You just can't believe that your own friend is gone," the 14-year-old said.

BBC reported that Israel Radio said 39-year-old Israeli national Eyal Baum is among the victims. BBC said Baum had been living in Barcelona and was travelling to Duesseldorf for work.

Victims and nationalities

Here's a breakdown of the nationalities of the victims, listing first those people with one nationality and then those with dual citizenship:​

• 71 Germans.
• 48 Spaniards.
• 3 Argentinians.
• 3 Americans.
• 2 Australians.
• 2 Britons.
• 2 Colombians
• 2 Iranians
• 1 Belgian.
• 1 Dane.
• 1 Dutch.
• 1 Japanese.
• 1 Mexican.
• 1 Moroccan.
• 1 Venezuelan.

Dual nationalities:

• 3 German/Kazakh
• 1 German/Japanese
• 1 Spanish/British
• 1 Spanish/Israeli
• 1 Spanish/Moroccan
• 1 Spanish/Mexican
• 1 Venezuelan/Chilean
• 1 nationality unclear​