Germanwings says 72 Germans died in plane crash

COLOGNE, March 25 (Reuters) - The number of victims from Germany onboard a Germanwings plane that crashed into the French Alps on Tuesday currently stands at 72, the carrier's managing director said on Wednesday.

The list of nationalities of all 150 onboard is constantly being updated, Thomas Winkelmann told journalists in Cologne.

He said there were 35 Spaniards on board, plus two each from Australia, Argentina, Iran, Venezuela and the United States, while Britain, the Netherlands, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Denmark and Israel each had a citizen on board.

He said the carrier will operate two special flights to France for the victims' families on Thursday and that he and Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr would be travelling to Duesseldorf and then Barcelona to speak with relatives of the victims.

Winkelmann said he was hopeful the investigation would ascertain the causes of the crash as soon as possible.

"We have the best technical know-how on the scene and I believe the investigation will bring results as soon as possible," Winkelmann said. (Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Kirsti Knolle)