( CNN ) On any other Wednesday morning , the steps in front of the Joseph-Koenig-Gymnasium would be packed with kids on their way to class , discussing homework , chattering about last night 's TV shows , or laying out plans for the coming weekend . But not today . Instead , students approached in silence , carrying photographs and flowers . In small groups , the teenagers lined up to lay tributes to their lost classmates before hugging each other wordlessly , or dissolving into tears . At 10:53 a.m. Tuesday morning , this school in the small western German town of Haltern was changed forever by events more than 1,000 km ( about 620 miles ) away . A Germanwings plane carrying 16 of its pupils and their two teachers home from a school exchange trip to Spain crashed in the French Alps , killing all of those on board . Headmaster Ulrich Wessel said when the first reports of a crash came through he was still hopeful , thinking `` perhaps they had missed the plane , or perhaps there was a second Germanwings flight at the same time . '' Instead , the worst was confirmed , leaving him `` stunned and somewhat speechless , '' the community devastated and the classmates of the dead struggling to understand their loss . `` A week ago Tuesday we sent 16 happy young people and two young colleagues off on a trip , '' Wessel told reporters . `` What was intended as a school exchange ended in tragedy . '' Of the 16 teenagers killed , 14 were girls , and two boys ; one of the two female teachers who died was a newlywed . In a post on the school 's website , Wessel and other school representatives announced the names of the dead , `` who will never again return to us , '' leaving all those concerned `` unutterably sad . '' The teenagers who died were : Linda Bergjurgen , Elena Bless , Lea Druppel , Selina Eils , Gina Michelle Gerdes , Ann-Christin Hahn , Julia Hermann , Marleen Koch , Paula Lutkenhaus , Fabio Rogge , Rabea Scheideler , Lea Schukart , Helena Siebe , Steffen Strang , Aline Venhoff and Caja Westermann . The two teachers were identified as Sonja Cercek and Stefanie Tegethoff . As news of the crash spread , the area at the entrance to the school became a makeshift memorial , filled with red and white candles , notes and swiftly-painted signs . `` Yesterday we were many , today we are alone , '' reads one . `` Why ? '' demands another , with painful simplicity . Philippa , a friend of many of those who died , told CNN she was shocked by what had happened : `` I knew all of them , they were in my grade . To some I was very close . `` We had already planned things for the future , what we were going to do when they returned from their trip . It is very hard to believed that we can not do that . '' Grief counselors , chaplains and psychologists have been brought in to the school to help all of those involved come to terms with the disaster . `` I 've told the students and teachers that we have to accept the sorrow and grieve , '' said Wessel . `` I hope we will all get through it , if we share it . '' As the world 's media descend on the town , messages of support have come flooding in too . The local newspaper is running an online book of condolence , in which people can leave messages of sympathy and `` light '' virtual candles to match the real ones flickering on the steps of the school . `` A silent hug says more than many words , '' wrote Manuela Donovang . `` Wishing the families , friends and relatives strength and comfort in the difficult days and months ahead . '' In his message , Udo Hentschel said the suffering of the parents , friends and families was `` incomprehensible , unfathomable '' and offered them his condolences : `` This , the worst of all fates , will bind us all -- friends and strangers -- closer together . '' In an attempt to show that solidarity , schools across the region will share a moment of silence in memory of the dead on Friday at 10:53 a.m. , the time the plane crashed . For the classmates of those who will never return , that silence will go on , as the seats they left empty remain unfilled in the weeks and months to come . `` Our school is no longer what it once was , '' said Wessel . `` In Haltern we had 1,283 students . It is horrifying that now we have 16 fewer . ''
western German town of Haltern in mourning after loss of 16 students and two teachers in plane crash . Group was returning from school exchange trip to Spain when aircraft went down in French Alps . Headteacher says school is in mourning , classmates struggling to understand what happened .