Germanwings: No intact bodies found as investigators remove 400-600 pieces of human remains from French Alps crash site

France: Rescue workers examining the Germanwings air disaster crash site have found no intact bodies and up to 600 pieces of human remains, investigators have confirmed.

Families at the site are even having to go through the ordeal of providing DNA samples to experts based in a make-shift laboratory set up across two hotels in Barcelona, where the loved ones of the crash victims are staying.

Police have also confirmed that no intact bodies have been found at the French Alps crash zone as they seek to identify the 150 victims of the disaster who died.

In a bid to identify the victims, families are being asked by officials if they can recall what clothing their loved ones may have been wearing while on board the doomed flight.

They have been asked if their late family members may have had any distinctive features such as tattoos.

Experts have also been recovering DNA samples from household items of the victims for further examination.

The investigation into how the disaster came about took another dramatic turn this morning after it was revealed that a torn-up sick note was found at the home of Andreas Lubitz.

The note confirmed that the murder-suicide pilot should not have been at work on Tuesday - the day of the crash.

Officers confirmed that the co-pilot was suffering from a "serious illness", which he had managed to conceal from his employers at Germanwings.

Reports have claimed that Lubitz suffered depression since investigators confirmed that he deliberately locked his captain out of the cockpit before flying flight 4U9525 into the French Alps.

In a statement, the prosecutors investigating the crash said: "Documents with medical contents were confiscated that point towards an existing illness and corresponding treatment by doctors.

"The fact there are sick notes saying he was unable to work, among other things, that were found torn up, which were recent and even from the day of the crime, support the assumption based on the preliminary examination that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and his professional colleagues."