Germanwings crash: Lufthansa knew co-pilot Lubitz had suffered from 'severe depression'

The Germanwings co-pilot, who is believed to have deliberately crashed the flight into the French Alps, had informed Lufthansa about his earlier bout of depression, the airline has said.

The firm had said last week the Andreas Lubitz had taken a break from flight school training, but refused to say why, reported the BBC.

It has now shared emails from 2009 which showed that Lubitz had told his instructors that he had suffered from "severe depression."

Meanwhile, French authorities said that the remains of all the victims had been removed from the ravine where the plane crashed. They added that mountain troops would return to the site on Wednesday to search for personal belongings.

The search for the second flight recorder will also continue.