BREAKING NEWS (Flight 4U9525) : 148 Feared Dead according to President of France in Airbus A320 crash reports from MSNBC: German Wings flight 'down in southern France' crashed from Barcelona to Dusseldorf...Crash site is located

An Airbus A320 operated by the German Wings airline has crashed in southern France, according to reports.

The plane was travelling between Barcelona and Dusseldorf when it came down in the French Alps near Digne, according to the AFP News Agency.

There were conflicting early reports of the number of passengers on the plane, which is believed to have a capacity of 174.

Screengrab from the flight tracking
 website Flightaware, appearing to show
 the path of the Barcelona-Dusseldorf flight

Le Monde and local newspapers cited aviation officials as saying that 142 passengers and six crew were on board at the time. Germanwings has issued a statement via Twitter saying the airline is still working to confirm the incident through its "own information".

It said it had "recently become aware of media reports speculating on an incident".

The airline requested the public "monitor our website" and said it would provide information as soon as it was available.

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