President Hollande has praised the rescue workers who are working to retrieve bodies and wreckage from the hard-to-reach crash site. Debris has been scattered across a large area of mountainous terrain.

Image source, Unknown

The husband of one of the victims said he was "devastated" after she and their baby son died in the Germanwings crash.

Marina Bandres Lopez Belio, 37, who was originally from Spain but lived in Manchester, died alongside seven-month-old Julian Pracz-Bandres.

Her husband Pawel Pracz "We have been living in Manchester for seven years. Marina was an editor and colourist, and we were both working in post-production for film and video.

"Marina was visiting her family in Spain for her uncle's funeral, she bought the tickets at the last moment, and decided to return to Manchester quickly as she wanted to return to her daily routine as soon as possible. I'm with my closest family in Manchester, and in close contact with our family in Spain at this very difficult time."

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Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is also meeting with investigators at the scene now, alongside President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel.

Another British victim has been named as Paul Andrew Bramley. The 28-year-old from Hull was studying hospitality and hotel management at Ceasar Ritz College in Lucerne, Switzerland. He had taken a few days holiday in Barcelona and was flying back to the UK, via Duesseldorf, to see his family.

His mother Carol, who lives in Majorca but had travelled to the UK to meet her son, said: "Paul was a kind, caring and loving son. He was the best son, he was my world."

Image source, AP

President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel are meeting search and rescue teams during their visit.

The two leaders are to be joined by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy later.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have arrived in Seyne-les-Alpes, near the crash site.

Search and rescue personnel make their way through to the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320.

Image source, AFP

French police and rescue teams set up a temporary shelter near the site of the Germanwings plane crash in the French Alps.

Image source, Getty Images

British businessman Martyn Matthews, from Wolverhampton, was among the victims of the crash, PA reports. The 50-year-old father of two grown-up children is thought to have been travelling to Germany for a business meeting.

BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott said: "The cockpit voice recorder 'black box' is pretty battered but the devices are bomb-proof, literally, so investigators should still be able to listen to what happened on board.

"The large, orange cylindrical part in the middle holds the memory boards that record the pilots' voices, and that looks intact to me.

"The critical question now is, were the pilots speaking during those lost eight minutes when the aircraft dropped from 38,000ft to the ground?"

British Prime Minister David Cameron has also been speaking about the tragedy. Addressing MPs at Prime Minister's Questions, he said: "It is heartbreaking to hear about the schoolchildren, the babies, the families whose lives have been brought to an end."

Image source, PA

US President Barack Obama has expressed his condolences to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a phone call, the US Embassy in Madrid said. The president also offered assistance from American officials as the investigation into the crash continues.

French interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet tells reporters that air crash investigators are "not in a race against time".

"We need to move forward methodically," he was quoted by AFP as saying.

Tributes of flowers, candles and teddy bears are growing outside Cologne Bonn Airport, the headquarters of Germanwings.

Image source, Reuters

Spain has declared three days of national mourning for the victims and a minute's silence has been held for the victims, one of many moments of reflection taking place across Europe.

Bayern Munich players observe a minute's silence , externalto pay tribute to the victims of Germanwings flight

Here is another image of the cockpit voice recorder released by French civil aviation authority BEA, showing the damage it sustained in the crash.

Image source, Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses

Employees of Barcelona's El Prat airport take pictures of a wreath of flowers displayed in honour of the victims of the crash.

Image source, AFP