German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says the crash site is "a picture of horror". After being flown over the area and briefed by French authorities, he said: "The grief of the families and friends is immeasurable. We must now stand together.

Image source, EPA

"We are united in our great grief."

Katya Adler
Europe editor

The church in Haltern was packed, candlelit and filled with pain.

The priest read out the names of the 16 teenage boys and girls who died today. On behalf of this shocked community he called out the question "Why?". The service was open-ended.

Families and friends are invited to stay all night if they want to light candles and try to find some comfort.

Germany's national football team will play with black armbands when it takes on Australia in a friendly on Wednesday. There will also be a minute's silence before kick-off.

Speaking before a joint press conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the White House, President Obama said "our thoughts and our prayers are with our friends in Europe".

"It's particularly heartbreaking because it apparently includes the loss of so many children, some of them infants," he said.

American officials are working to confirm how many US citizens may have been on board, he added.

Sixteen German teenagers and two teachers were among the passengers. The group, from Joseph-Koenig school in Haltern, western Germany, were returning from a Spanish exchange programme.

Image source, Getty Images

Until today, Germanwings had recorded no accidents involving fatalities since it was founded in 2002, Associated Press reports.

Germany's Spiegel magazine has reported an incident from 2010, when two pilots nearly passed out as they landed in Cologne. The magazine said contaminated cabin air was suspected.

Brussels Airport

tweets, external: Moment of silence to honour the victims of the #germanwings crash today.

Aviation expert Dr Steven Wright told BBC Radio 4 that as well as examining the flight recorders, investigators will want to look through the maintenance records for the aircraft.

"For an aircraft to lose 32,000ft in eight minutes is really, really unusual," he said.

Alex Capstick
BBC News, Seyne-les-Alpes

I'm at the base for all the rescue teams and accident investigators. Helicopters take about four minutes to get to the remote location of the crash site. They found debris and the black box. Night has fallen but helicopters are still taking off. It has been difficult today because of icy rain.

More from the Lufthansa press conference at El Prat Airport in Barcelona, from where the plane took off:

• About 150 relatives and friends have been at the airport today

• The company will disclose more information about nationalities later this evening

• Its investigation team is in contact with law enforcement authorities in the relevant countries

Anna Holligan
BBC News

Police say it will take days to recover the bodies due to the treacherous terrain. The airline is arranging transport for family and friends who want to visit the crash site.

Lufthansa's Europe vice president Heike Birlenbach said at a press conference at Barcelona Airport: "We will do our utmost to support the relatives and the friends of these passengers on board. We are now looking into options and possibilities to bring them to the scene which is not yet confirmed. So we'll have to see whether that makes sense."

An opera house in Duesseldorf says bass baritone Oleg Bryjak was among the 150 people onboard the plane.

The Deutsche Oper am Rhein said Mr Bryjak was on his way back from Barcelona, where he had sung Alberich in Richard Wagner's Siegfried at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Director Christoph Meyer said: "We have lost a great performer and a great person in Oleg Bryjak. We are stunned.''

A Germanwings spokeswoman gives details of the aircraft:

• The Airbus A320 had its first flight on 29 November, 1990

• Lufthansa took it into service in 1991 and sold it to Germanwings in 2014

• Its last routine check was in Duesseldorf yesterday

• It had completed 58,313 flight hours

• It mainly focused on short continental flights

• The plane was delayed taking off but a reason could not immediately be given

Image source, AP

Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings, says it is working on the assumption that the crash was an accident.

Jenny Hill
BBC Berlin correspondent

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said France and Spain and Germany have been plunged into deep sorrow. Two of her cabinet have already been sent to the crash site and she will follow on Wednesday.

Spain's deputy prime minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, says "The minister of development is going to the area to be able to check on what's happening with her French and German counterparts, to see the difficulties this kind of operation might encounter."

She said Spain would co-operate in every aspect including logistics, operations and investigation.

Image source, EVN

Aerial pictures from the crash site show emergency response teams examining debris.

According to Le Monde, external, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has said the flight recorder will be looked at immediately and has been transferred to the Office of Investigations and Analysis, which describes itself on its website as "the French authority responsible for safety investigations into accidents or incidents in civil aviation".

Katya Adler
BBC News, Germany

Hundreds of students have gathered outside their school in Haltern. Some lighting candles. Some hug. Some cry.

Image source, AFP