Germanwings crash: Families mark first anniversary

Families are due to gather in a village in the French Alps to mark the first anniversary of the Germanwings air disaster.

The names of the victims will be read out, followed by a minute's silence.

Investigators believe co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed Flight 9525, killing all 150 people on board.

On Wednesday, ceremonies were held at Barcelona airport, where the plane took off, and in the German city of Duesseldorf, its intended destination.

About 600 relatives and friends of the victims will mark the anniversary in the village of Le Vernet, close to where the plane came down.

It will be a private ceremony and no government officials will take part.

"The families do not wish for their pain to be filmed," local French official Bernard Guerin said.

A minute's silence will take place at 09:41 GMT, the exact time of the crash. A wreath is also to be laid at the cemetery in Le Vernet where unidentified human remains from the crash were buried.

A report into the disaster has revealed that Lubitz, 27, had been urged to attend a psychiatric hospital weeks before the crash, but his employer was not told.

French investigators have called for medical confidentiality to be relaxed for pilots.

Although Lubitz had been suffering from severe depression, doctors had been unable to disclose this, they said.

Both Germanwings and its parent company Lufthansa have said that Lubitz had passed all tests of fitness to fly.