“Over the past hours I have spoken with French President Francois Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. We agreed on providing mutual and comprehensive assistance in investigating the causes of the disaster, as well as support to those leading the investigation at the crash site and at airports,” Merkel told reporters.
The German chancellor added she was planning to visit the crash site on Wednesday to personally assess the situation.
Fifteen German teenagers were among the 150 passengers of the Airbus that had crashed in the Alps, the Local Spain reported Tuesday. The teenagers were returning from a school exchange trip in Catalonia, the website said, citing a source at the Giola Institute in Barcelona.
French President Francois Hollande said that German, Spanish and Turkish nationals were among the passengers.
Germanwings is a low-cost affiliate of German airline Lufthansa, which was created in 1997. Tuesday's Airbus A320 crash has been the first accident in the history of Germanwings.
The Airbus 320 that crashed Tuesday was reportedly 24 years old. As of January 2015, aircraft average age of the fleet at Germanwings was 9.2 years, according to the company's website.
