Plane crashes in Brazil with 62 people on board
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A plane with 62 people on board has crashed in Brazil, Brazilian airline VoePass says.
The airline VoePass confirmed in a statement on Friday that a plane heading to Sao Paulo’s international airport Guarulhos crashed with 58 passengers and four crew members aboard.
The statement did not say what caused the accident.
Sao Paulo’s state fire brigade confirmed on social media that a plane crashed in Vinhedo and that it has sent seven crews to the region of the accident.
Brazilian television network GloboNews showed footage of a large area on fire and smoke coming out of an apparent plane fuselage in a residential area full of houses.
Additional footage on GloboNews showed a plane drifting downward vertically, spiralling as it fell.
At an event in southern Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asked the crowd to stand and observe a minute of silence as he shared the news.
He said that it appeared that all passengers and crew aboard had died, without elaborating as to how that information had been obtained.
The Capela neighborhood where the plane crashed sits in a district far from the centre of the prosperous city that’s home to 77,000 residents.
The plane departed from Cascavel, in the state of Parana.
Authorities sealed off the entrance to the residential area where the plane went down, as journalists outside watched as official vehicles including ambulances drove in and waited for updates.
with PA and AP
Reuters
