The Joseph König secondary school is in Haltern am See, north of Dusseldorf.

Returning from a week-long exchange trip, 16 Joseph König teenagers and two teachers were on the Germanwings flight which never arrived from Barcelona.

The school has been surrounded by police urging media to respect students’ general reluctance to speak out on camera.

The loss to the city of some 38,000 people drew reactions of disbelief as well as despair.

We spoke to people in the centre of town.

One man said: “I met somebody today who said he had a business meeting today and said, ‘I can’t cancel that, I have to attend, because life goes on.’ And that’s exactly what we need to do! It is very sad, but what can you do?”

A woman told us: “My three brothers all go to that school. I had to call them three or four times, to make sure they were home — it’s unbelievable! Everybody always says flying is the safest form of transport, and then something like this happens! It’s just unbelievable. My bro