'No survivors' as Germanwings plane carrying 148 crashes in French Alps
French president Francois Hollande has said there are unlikely to be any survivors after a passenger jet carrying 148 people crashed in the French Alps and expressed his "solidarity" with the victims.
The Germanwings passenger jet had been travelling from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, French officials said.
Eric Ciotti, the head of the regional council, said search and rescue teams are heading to the crash site at Meolans-Revels.
The French newspaper La Provence, citing aviation officials, said the Airbus plane carried at least 142 passengers, two pilots and four flight attendants.
In a statement on Twitter the airline said: "We have recently become aware of media reports speculating on an incident though we still do not have any own confirmed information.
"As soon as definite information is available, we shall inform the media immediately."
In a live briefing, Mr Hollande said the area of the crash was remote and it was not clear whether anyone on the ground had been hurt.
He added that it was probable that a number of the victims are German.
"It's a tragedy on our soil," he said, adding he would be speaking shortly with German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Germanwings is a low-cost airline owned by giant German carrier Lufthansa, with its headquarters in Cologne.
