As many as 150 people are feared dead after a passenger plane crashed in the French Alps.
French President Francois Hollande said it was unlikely there would be any survivors in the crash involving an Airbus A320 flying from Spain to Germany.
The plane was operated by low-cost carrier Germanwings, which is owned by German airline Lufthansa.
The company said there were 144 passengers on board and six crew. Two babies were among the passengers.
It is thought the plane went down near the town of Digne, having left Barcelona on a flight to Dusseldorf.
A French government spokeswoman said: “I can confirm that the accident took place. We do not know the exact number of people involved but hope to release more information at a later stage. We are trying to find out more information about what happened.”
Germanwings 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.”
French interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said debris from thecrash has been located, with the plane having crashed at an altitude of 6,500ftin the Alps.
He said the plane sent out a distress signal at 10.45am local time (9.45am GMT). The passenger manifest is currently being verified.
Mr Brandet told BFM television he expects “an extremely long and extremely difficult” search and rescue operation because of the area’s remoteness.
Captain Benoit Zeisser of the Digne-le-Bains police said conditions had been cloudy, but the cloud ceiling was not low and there did not appear to have been turbulence.
In a statement on Twitter, Airbus said: “We are aware of the media reports. All efforts are now going towards assessing the situation. We will provide further information as soon as available.”
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “My heart goes out to the family and friends of those people who appear to have lost their lives in this devastating air crash in the Alps.”
Mr Hollande has already spoken to German chancellor Angela Merkel to express his country’s solidarity with Germany over the disaster.
Germanwings has expressed its “deepest condolences” to the relatives of all those who died in the crash.
King Felipe VI of Spain, who is currently in Paris, has said his official state visit to France is being cancelled.