The reasons of the plane crash are not known yet.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that she is shocked by reports of the plane crash, which was carrying mainly Germans. She said that she has cancelled all her Tuesday meetings.

Mariano Rajoy, the Prime Minister of Spain, is also moved by the information about the catastrophe. There were probably 45 Spanish people on board.

Alain Vidalies, the French Secretary of State for Transport claims that there were no survivors of the accident.

He informed that the machine crashed in the 'snow-covered area, out of reach' for vehicles. However, he also added that the helicopters can get there. According to Mr Vidalies there were no 'particularly bad weather conditions' at the time of the crash.

Germanwings is a low-cost airline belonging to German Lufthansa.