An Airbus A320 with 142 passengers and six crewmembers has crashed in Digne region, southern France, media reports say. The jet, which belonged to Germanwings low-cost airline, was flying from Barcelona to Düsseldorf.
The plane crash in the French Alps was confirmed by General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The jet crashed in the Upper Bléone Valley, Le Provence wrote. Emergency services are currently heading to the disaster zone. French Transport Minister Thierry Mariani said that a distress signal was sent by the Germanwings plane.
#A320 CRASH: Airbus crashes in area of #Digne, S. France – reports http://t.co/XTMaa9mAV2 pic.twitter.com/CgJH5KE29K
— RT (@RT_com) March 24, 2015
Germanwings flight #4U9525 (registration D-AIPX) was lost from Flightradar24 at 6800 feet at 09.39 UTC time. pic.twitter.com/vZaQMUlLaZ — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 24, 2015
Last position of Germanwings flight #4U9525 at 09:40 UTC http://t.co/FHoX6q0GHt pic.twitter.com/72pxGKolRM
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 24, 2015
France’s Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has confirmed the plane crash and is headed to the scene, local TV reported. He added that debris from the crashed jet has been found near a village.He added that debris from crashed jet has been found near the small town of Barcelonnette, a commune in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence,about 100 km (65 miles) north of the French Riviera city of Nice.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said there are fears up to 150 passengers and crew died in the crash, adding that the cause is not yet known.
“We of course don’t know the reasons for the crash,” Valls told the media. “We obviously fear that the 142 to 150 passengers and crew died today, given the conditions of this crash.”
The plane was lost from the radars at about 09:39 GMT, according to flightradar24, an internet service displaying real-time aircraft flight information on a map.
Germanwings, a low-cost airline based in Cologne, tweeted that they will inform media immediately about the incident, “as soon as definite information is available.”
INFO: We have recently become aware of media reports speculating on an incident though we still do not have any own confirmed information…
— Germanwings (@germanwings) March 24, 2015
