Air crash victims Rita Szarvas and her son Andre

Tributes have today been paid to a former Shropshire schoolboy and his mother who were on board the Air France jet which crashed in the sea near Brazil.

Rita Szarvas, 31, and her son Andras, seven, moved to Ludlow from Hungary when Mrs Szarvas started working at the Megan Baker House near Leominster.

The mother and son are both Hungarian nationals.

Friends and colleagues have said the pair were on board the plane which crashed on May 31.

The Hungarian Embassy is unable to confirm details due to the data protection act but Mrs Szarvas was listed on the flight list.

Andras attended Ludlow Infants School for two years and the school is planning a day of remembrance in July to coincide with the opening of its garden, the school’s headteacher said today.

Val Matthews said: “He had moved from Hungary with his mum. He was four years old and spoke only a few words of English.

“Within months Andras had learned to speak English fluently.

“Last year, Andras returned to Hungary with his mum. Everyone was sad to see him go as he had so many friends. His class teacher kept in touch with his mum and often e-mailed to exchange news.

“We were all devastated to hear the news last week. We hoped it was not true, but we knew our source of information was very reliable.”

Mrs Matthews said staff had been reassuring young children and their families, while governors had been a great support to staff.

Mrs Szarvas’s neighbour Sasha Griffiths and her son Marcus were close friends and their two boys often went to school together.

Mrs Griffiths said: “Rita was offered a job in a Hungarian University last September, she was very good. She had a nature and a talent to work with children.”

Jo Baker-Watson, a director of the Megan Baker House, added: “Rita was great friends with everyone here. It’s a terrible tragedy.”

Flight 447 had 228 people on board including five Britons when it mysteriously crashed. Experts are hoping the ocean location of the plane crash victims could provide answers to whether the doomed jet broke up in the air.

By Hannah Costigan