MADRID, March 24-- Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Tuesday that the plane crash in the French Alps was "dramatic and sad news with enormous human loss."
Rajoy made this statement in Victoria in Spain's Basque region during a brief press conference, after the Germanwings plane crash in which 144 passengers and 6 crew members were killed, among whom 45 are Spaniards.
The Airbus A320 operated by Lufthansa's budget airline crashed in the southern French Alps while flying from Spain's Barcelona to Germany's Duesseldorf.
Rajoy said his agenda was canceled and that he would return to Madrid.
Rajoy told reporters he could not give more information as all details were preliminary. He said the government would do everything it could to support the families and confirmed that a crisis unit had been set up.
He added that Minister of Public Works Ana Pastor was on her way to France.
Rajoy has also consulted with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish King Felipe VI currently in Paris, Spain's Catalan President Artur Mas and Pedro Sanchez, leader of Spain's opposition party PSOE.
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