German, French and Spanish flags, tied with a black ribbon, have been placed in a field near the village of Le Vernet, close to the crash site.

Image source, AFP/Getty

BEA investigators have released an image of the sealed container holding the flight voice recorder. It does contain usable sounds and voices, according to Mr Jouty.

Image source, BEA

A photograph of British victim Martyn Matthews, pictured here with his wife Sharon and children Jade and Nathan, has now been released.

Image source, AP

Jouty: Small size of debris suggests aircraft did not explode in flight

Mr Jouty confirmed that members of his team had listened to the recording and heard voices, but would not give any more details.

Jouty: Hope to have first rough ideas from the voice recorder in a few days. A fuller understanding will take weeks or even months.

Mr Jouty, seen here addressing reporters at the BEA's headquarters north of Paris, said the aircraft's descent began about one minute after its last routine communication with air traffic controllers.

Image source, AP

Jouty: We have been able to extract a usable audio file from the sound recorder.

Jouty: Sound recorder was found on site around 17:00 local time on Tuesday and was quickly sent to BEA, arriving at 09:45 on Wednesday.

Jouty: Last altitude recorded by radar was around 6,000 feet, approximately the altitude of the mountains.

Jouty: Last message broadcast from the aircraft was routine, confirming an instruction from the control tower.

Remi Jouty from the French investigating organisation, BEA is giving a news conference. He says the accident site is very steep, and very difficult to access, even on foot.

There is a reminder of what we know so far here as investigators work to find out exactly what happened to the Germanwings flight.

The psychologist in charge of supporting families in Duesseldorf, Sabine Rau, said not knowing what happened to the plane will be difficult for relatives to deal with.

"At the beginning, people have a gigantic need for information," she told the BBC. She said some people may find solace in travelling to the crash site in order to be close to the unfolding situation.

"For others it's better to to stay home, with the people they love," she added. "The most difficult thing for us is to watch people suffer. Within minutes, these people got this news, and their lives were turned upside down."

This image shows Lufthansa employees in Frankfurt mourning the victims of the crash.

Image source, AFP

Mr Rajoy has thanked all of the volunteers for their help and said the French people had been generous.

Chancellor Merkel, President Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at the news conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Chancellor Merkel praised the French people and especially the local residents for their readiness to help.

President Hollande says that the casing of the second black box recorder has been found, but not the recorder itself.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking alongside President Hollande, said: "Everything is being done in order to attempt to understand the inexplicable, even if it takes a long time. It is a catastrophe in an inaccessible geographical region."

Hollande: Families of the victims will be welcomed and supported. A team of psychologists, carers and local teachers acting as interpreters has been assembled.