Lufthansa Airways Crashed Into France No Survivors

According to Sky news a commercial German passenger plane crashed into France, with all one-hundred and fifty people on board thought to have died.

The Airbus A320, operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline, came down in the southern French Alps between Barcelonnette and Digne.

Flight 4U 9525 sent out a distress signal at 10.47am (9.47am UK time) after finding itself in an "abnormal situation" on its route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.

France's President Francois Hollande said there were likely to be "no survivors" and that he expected a significant number of German casualties.

"It's a tragedy on our soil," he said.

"The conditions of the accident, which have not yet been clarified, lead us to think there are no survivors."

Spain's Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, said 45 of those on board are thought to be Spanish.

Lufthansa wrote on its Twitter page: "We do not yet know what has happened to flight 4U 9525. My deepest sympathy goes to the families and friends of our passengers and crew on 4U 9525.

"If our fears are confirmed, this is a dark day for Lufthansa. We hope to find survivors."

Germanwings says it cannot confirm the reports. Airbus says it is "assessing" the situation.

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a tweet: "Our thoughts are with those who have to go through the worry that their relatives may be among the victims."