Washington, Mar 25 (EFE).- The U.S. government confirmed Wednesday that three Americans died in the Germanwings passenger jet crash in the French Alps and said that efforts are continuing to determine if there were any more on board the ill-fated plane.

State Department spokeswomen Jen Psaki earlier on Wednesday had confirmed the deaths of two U.S. citizens who were on the flight, which crashed Tuesday morning in a mountainous region in southern France for as yet unknown reasons.

Psaki at her daily press conference identified the two Americans whose deaths she had announced as Yvonne and Emily Selke, and she said that a third U.S. citizen was also on board.

The State Department is in contact with relatives of the third victim, Psaki said, refusing to divulge the person’s name for the moment “out of respect for the family.”

“We are in contact with family members and we extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the 150 people on board,” said Psaki in a statement.

“We are continuing to review our records to determine whether any other U.S. citizens might have been on board the flight,” she said.

The president of Germanwings airline, Thomas Winkelmann, on Wednesday had already said that there were two Americans on board the Airbus A320 that crashed in the Alps en route from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, Germany.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday telephoned Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to express his condolences over the victims of the accident, and he also spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In his conversation with Rajoy, Obama offered the full assistance of U.S. officials in doing whatever may be necessary to respond to the tragedy, the White House said in a statement. EFE