'State of shock' at air crash site

Candles are lit for each victim - at the St. Nicolas Cathedral in Ueberlingen

UEBERLINGEN, Germany -- Locals are in a state of shock over the mid-air crash which killed 71 passengers and crew.

They cannot believe that something like this has happened -- it is such a freakish thing to have occurred.

Flags are flying half-mast here until Thursday and a Mass was held on Tuesday.

The crash which happened at about midnight on Monday is all over newspaper front pages -- removing any mention of the German football team's return to a hero's welcome from the World Cup final.

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Some locals saw several large pieces of the plane falling to the ground.

It is a fairly densely populated area, and a tourist attraction. Lots of small, as well as larger villages, are strewn around.

A great, great sense of relief exists that the debris did not kill anyone on the ground. Some of the debris landed on a farm barn and a school that was obviously empty at the time of the accident.

The German traffic minister has said 'Thank God' nobody else was killed. But the people are not concentrating on that too much because 71 people still lost their lives.

About 150 Russian relatives of those who died are due to arrive here on Thursday or Friday after they have sorted out their visas.

They basically do not want to get here and wait for evidence to emerge. They want to arrive and see, for example any remains.

A crisis intervention team of 30 people is to provide counselling for families and police, if they want it.

But it is not clear how long the families will stay, or what they will be doing exactly.

Between 500 and 800 police are scouring the area looking to recover the remains of the wreckage over a 20-mile area.

It is a fairly slow process. They have found body remains in four main areas.

But the weather on Wednesday was sunny and better than on Tuesday when rescuers worked in wet and foggy conditions.

Up to 10 Russian experts have arrived, and we are waiting to hear what the flight recorders have to say.