Yvonne And Emily Selke Named As American Victims In Germanwings Flight 9525 Crash

Yvonne and Emily Selke of Nokesville, Virginia, were identified Wednesday by their husband and father as the two Americans aboard the Germanwings flight that crashed Tuesday in the south of France. Raymond Selke told the Washington Post that he was too distraught to talk further about his wife and daughter.

Yvonne Selke was a government contractor with the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton, a management and technology consulting firm, the Associated Press reported. The company declined to comment on her death.

The Gamma Sigma Sigma chapter at Drexel University in Philadelphia posted a tribute to Emily Selke, a 2013 graduate of the school, on its Facebook page, according to the Post. “She embodied the spirit of Gamma Sigma Sigma,” the message read. “As a person and friend, Emily always put others before herself and cared deeply for all those in her life. Emily will be greatly missed by her fellow sisters of Zeta. Please keep Emily, her mother and their family in your thoughts and prayers during this heartbreaking time.”

Yvonne and Emily Selke were among the 144 passengers and six crew who died in the crash. Flight 4U 9525 departed Barcelona and was en route to Düsseldorf when it crashed in the south of France. Although the recovered black box was damaged in the crash, officials said they believe they can access information on the box.

Both Germanwings and the Airbus A320, the plane flown on Flight 4U 9525, had excellent safety records.