Doomed Germanwings passenger 'videoed French Alps plane crash'

Confusion reigns over the existence of video allegedly shot by a doomed passenger on board the Germanwings plane as it crashed into the French Alps.

French title Paris Match and German tabloid Bild each claimed to have seen footage from inside the cabin of the flight, taken as co-pilot Andreas Lubitz smashed it in to a mountain.

But the tape existence's was apparently ruled out by the French prosecutor leading the legal investigation into the air disaster, in which 150 people were killed last week.

The papers claimed the tape came from a source close to the investigation. It has not been published on the titles' websites.

Reporting the contents of the footage, Bild called it "a very disturbing scene".

Paris Match described it in more detail, writing: "One can hear cries of 'My God' in several languages. Metallic banging can also be heard more than three times, perhaps of the pilot trying to open the cockpit door with a heavy object. Towards the end, after a heavy shake, stronger than the others, the screaming intensifies. Then nothing."

Casting doubt on the existence of the tapes, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said: "So far no videos were used in the crash investigation. A person who has such a video needs to immediately give it to the investigators," he told CNN.

Meanwhile, a French police spokesman called claims about tapes "completely wrong". Jean-Marc Menichini said phones had been recovered from the scene, but no analysis had yet taken place.

On Wednesday afternoon, the newspapers involved were standing by the video claim.