No survivors expected in Germany mid-air crash

Scores of people are feared dead after a Russian passenger jet with dozens of people on board and a cargo plane collided over southern Germany.

Officials say a fireball scattered flaming wreckage over a wide area, and all on board are believed to have been killed.

The Tupolev 154 and Boeing 757 planes went down over Ueberlingen, close to Lake Constance.

The Bashkirian Airlines plane from Moscow bound for Barcelona and the Boeing were believed to have been flying at an altitude of about 36,000 feet when they hit.

Wolfgang Wenzel, a police spokesman in the city of Tuebingen, commented: "At such an altitude, it would be a wonder if anyone survived."

Uta Otterbein, a spokeswoman for German Air Traffic Control, says the planes went down over Ueberlingen, close to Lake Constance had 80 passengers and 13 crew aboard.

However, Mr Wenzel says the German Embassy in Moscow had reported only 57 passengers and 12 crew.

Police earlier spoke of up to 150 dead, based on the capacity of the Soviet-era plane.

The cargo plane, flying for the DHL delivery service on a trip from Bahrain to Brussels, had two pilots on board.

Rescue workers began recovering bodies of some of the victims after the two planes collided just before midnight local time.