An airliner with 144 passengers on board and six crew members has crashed in the French Alps between Barcelona and Digne said French aviation officials.
The passenger plane, flight 4U 9525, belonged to German company Germanwings which is a subsidiary of Lufthansa.
Earlier, Germanwings had said 148 were on board but later revised the number of passengers.
According to aviation officials, the flight had taken off from Barcelona in Spain and had been headed for Dusseldorf in Germany.
French President Francois Hollande said in a statement that the accident happened in a location that is particularly difficult to access and that he believed there are no survivors.
“There were 148 people on board,” Hollande said. “The conditions of the accident, which have not yet been clarified, lead us to think there are no survivors.”
AFP meanwhile reported that the plane issued an emergency distress signal at 9:47PM GMT.
In response to the crash, the French government formed a crisis cell to coordinate recovery missions.
The French Ministry of Interior reported that some debris had been located at the French Alps at an altitude of 2,000 meters.
Meanwhile, Germanwings has said it is aware of reports regarding the crash and that it is working closely with local authorities.
Germanwings is a low-cost budget airline and subsidiary of Lufthansa.
Lufthansa’s Chief Executive Carsten Spohr tweeted his condolensces to the families of those on board: “If our fears are confirmed, this is a dark day for Lufthansa. We hope to find survivors.”
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