Germanwings Plane Crash In The French Alps: 150 Feared Dead

An Airbus A320 airliner has crashed in the French Alps between Barcelonnette and Digne, French aviation officials and police have said.

The jet belongs to the German airline Germanwings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa.

The plane, flight 4U 9525, had been en route from Barcelona to Duesseldorf with 144 passengers and six crew.

No one is expected to have survived, French President Francois Hollande said. He and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have spoken of their shock.

"This is the hour in which we all feel deep sorrow," Ms Merkel told reporters, adding that she was planning to travel to the crash site.

Speaking earlier, Mr Hollande said the "conditions of the accident, which have not yet been clarified, lead us to think there are no survivors".

He described the crash as a tragedy, adding that it had taken place in an area that was hard to access.