Alps crash co-pilot Andreas Lubitz hid the details of an existing illness from his employers, German prosecutors say.

They said they found torn-up sick notes in his homes, including one covering the day of the crash.

In their report, Duesseldorf prosecutors did not say what illness Mr Lubitz had.

But German media have said aviation authority documents suggested he suffered depression and required ongoing assessment.

Prosecutors said there was no evidence of a political or religious motive to his actions, and no suicide note was found.

Mr Lubitz and 149 passengers and crew died when Germanwings flight 4U 9525 crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday.

Data from the plane's voice recorder suggest Mr Lubitz purposely started a descent as the pilot was locked out of the cockpit.

In their statement, prosecutors said they seized medical documents from the Mr Lubitz's home indicated "an existing illness and appropriate medical treatment".

But "the fact that, among the documents found, there were sick notes - torn-up, current and for the day of the crash - leads to the provisional assessment that the deceased was hiding his illness from his employer", the report states.

(BBC)