(VOVworld) -  There were no survivors of the Airbus A320 crash in southern France of Lufthansa's budget airline Germanwings, said Alain Vidalies, France’s Transport Minister on Tuesday. Germanwings said 144 passengers including 67 Germans, 45 Spinals, and several Turks, plus six crew members, were on the flight. 

At a press conference held the same day, Germanwings said they lost contact with the plane, which declared it was in distress at 10:30 am local time while flying at 6000 feet. The plane dropped in a remote part of the Alps before breaking into several pieces.  French rescue forces has recovered the plane’s black box, which will be given to investigators to determine the cause of the accident. According to US and German experts, there is no indication that terrorism or weather was a factor in the accident. German experts said that a serious technical problem was very likely. French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, many other French officials, and ambassadors from Germany and Spain have come to inspect the plane crash site. Spanish Vice President Soraya Sainz said Spain has declared three days of mourning for the victims beginning Tuesday night. Flight 4U9525 signaled it was in distress while en route from Barcelona, Spain, to Düsseldorf, Germany.