Police search co-pilot's apartment, new evidence found

German police have seized items belonging to the co-pilot who deliberately crashed the Germanwings plane in the French Alps. Police searched an apartment in Dusseldorf and a house in Montbaur, reports the Patria news agency.

Police seized several boxes of items belonging to Andreas Lubitz, as well as a computer, from the apartment and house.

"We found something that will be subjected to testing. We cannot say what it is at the moment, but it could be a significant clue as to what happened," said Markus Nisczery, a police spokesman, as reported by the BBC.

However, police later reported that it was not a suicide note. Reports also emerged in German media that Lubitz suffered from depression.

The British tabloid Daily Mail writes that Lubitz may have been suffering from a 'personal crisis', namely a recent breakup, but this information has not been officially confirmed.

What is certain and has been confirmed by the German government is that Lubitz was not previously known to German security services.

German investigators searched the home of the Germanwings co-pilot on Thursday evening, who is suspected of deliberately locking himself in the cockpit and crashing the plane into a mountain, killing himself and everyone on board, according to court sources in Duesseldorf.

The Duesseldorf prosecutor's office has opened a parallel investigation to the one underway in France. A statement from the prosecutor's office says that searches are being conducted in Duesseldorf and at some other locations to find "personal elements that can shed light on the facts".