Families of British air crash victims speak of 'devastating loss'

The families of the Britons killed in the French Alps plane disaster have spoken of their devastating loss.

Those who died in the Germanwings' Airbus A320 crash included Martyn Matthews, Marina Bandres Lopez Belio and her seven-month-old son Julian and Paul Andrew Bramley.

Mr Matthews, 50, was a senior quality manager from Wolverhampton who worked at Tipton in the West Midlands.

Marina Bandres Lopez Belio, 37, who was originally from Spain and lived in Manchester with her husband, died alongside her seven-month-old son Julian Pracz-Bandres.

A third Briton on the Barcelona to Dusseldorf flight was Paul Bramley, 28, who was originally from Hull and was studying hotel management in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Ms Bandres Lopez Belio had lived in Manchester for seven years with her husband Pawel Pracz, both working in the film and video industry.

Mr Pracz said she had been visiting her family in Spain for her uncle's funeral and bought the tickets at the last moment.

He said in a statement released by the Foreign Office: "I'm with my closest family in Manchester, and in close contact with our family in Spain at this very difficult time.

"We are devastated and would like to request that we be allowed to grieve in peace as a family without intrusion at this difficult time."

Mr Matthews had two grown-up children and his work at Tipton was for German automotive manufacturer Huf. He is thought to have been travelling to Germany for a business meeting.

His family said: "We are devastated at the news of this tragic incident and request that we are allowed to deal with this terrible news without intrusion at this difficult time."

An FO statement on behalf of Mr Bramley's family said: "Paul was originally from Hull. He was studying hospitality and hotel management at Ceasar Ritz College in Lucerne and about to start an internship on April 1.

"Paul had just finished his first year at the college and had taken a few days holiday with friends in Barcelona, before flying back to the UK via Dusseldorf to meet his family."

Mr Bramley's mother Carol lives in Majorca and is currently in the UK, having flown over to meet him.

She said: "Paul was a kind, caring and loving son. He was the best son, he was my world."

Mr Bramley's father Philip, who lives in Hull, said they were both deeply shocked and would miss him.

Announcing that three Britons had died, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: "We cannot rule out the possibility that there are further British people involved.

"The level of information on the flight manifest doesn't allow us to rule out that possibility until we've completed some further checks."

In the Commons, Prime Minister David Cameron offered his "deepest condolences" to those who had lost loved ones in the crash.

Read: Pilot 'was locked out of cockpit' before fatal crash

While some nationalities were still to be verified, Germanwings said the 150 people killed in the crash included 72 Germans, 35 Spaniards and two Australians.

Three Americans are also known to have been on the plane.

Other countries with passengers on the flight included Iran, Israel, Japan, Denmark, Belgium and Colombia.