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Belongings Seized As Cops Search Co-Pilot's Home

An investigation is under way into the life of the co-pilot who has been blamed for causing the French Alps plane crash.

Andreas Lubitz, 27, has been accused of deliberately flying the Airbus A320 into a mountainside shortly after preventing the captain from re-entering the cockpit.

All 150 people aboard the aircraft died in the crash.

Police officers have been carrying out searches of Lubitz's flat in Dusseldorf and the home he shared with parents in the historic town of Montabaur.

German media has also reported that Lubitz received treatment for a "serious depressive episode" six years ago during his training to become a pilot.

Der Spiegel reported that investigators searching the apartment in Dusseldorf had found evidence that Lubitz was mentally ill. It was unclear what that evidence was.

For several hours investigators took away cases and boxes from both addresses. Footage also showed one person leaving one of the properties hidden under a coat.

In Dusseldorf police said that they were "looking for clues as to what the co-pilot's motivation might have been".

In Montabaur neighbours reacted with disbelief when the heard of Lubitz's involvement.

One man, who did not want to be named, said that he had known the pilot since childhood.

He told Sky News: "I cannot imagine that he has done it with intention.

"This does not fit in this picture I have of him. It is a very upright family, very helpful and I cannot understand what has happened."

Lubitz grew up dreaming of becoming a pilot.

As a teenager he gained his glider's licence after training with LSC Westerwald flying club in his hometown.

Klaus Radke, the chairman of the gliding club, said: "Over the time he was with us he was a very calm, responsible man.

"Or let me say he was acting responsibly, like many, many others who learn gliding here at our club."

After a period of further training in Arizona, he took a job with Lufthansa in Germany.

The airline's chief executive said air crew were carefully selected and subjected to psychological vetting.

On Friday, Germanwings said it was setting up a family assistance centre in Marseille for relatives of those killed in the crash.

Spokesman Thomas Winkelmann said in a statement that "in these dark hours our full attention belongs to the emotional support of the relatives and friends of the victims of Flight 9525".

Some relatives took part in a memorial service on Thursday near the crash site in the French Alps.

German President Joachim Gauck also attended a memorial service in Haltern for 16 students and two teachers from the local high school who were killed.

It comes as police and rescue workers hunt for the aircraft's second black box on the fourth day of recovery operations at the scene of the crash.

Officials are searching the wreckage for body parts and DNA to try and identify the 150 people killed in the crash.

Some 75 German people were on board the aircraft, which was flying from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. At least 50 Spanish citizens were also on the flight, along with three Britons .

The second black box contains technical flight data.