In a tragic incident, a plane carrying 62 people crashed followed by a large plume of black smoke in a residential area of Brazil's Sao Paulo state on Friday. The airline VoePass confirmed the incident, stating that the aircraft was en route to Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport. There were 58 passengers and 4 crew members onboard. The airline's statement did not specify the cause of the crash, and the number of casualties remains unclear at this time, however, all are feared dead. Authorities are currently investigating the incident.
Firefighters confirmed that the plane fell in the city of Vinhedo, but did not offer more details. The firefighter corps was dispatching teams to the crash site. Brazilian media 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 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.
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Rescue team dispatched to site
According to tracking website Flightradar24, the aircraft, built in 2010, departed from Cascavel at 11:56 local time (14:56 GMT). The last signal from the plane was received approximately an hour and a half later, shortly before it crashed in a residential area. Firefighters, military police and the civil defense authority dispatched teams to the crash site in Vinhedo, as per Associated Press.
Further details are awaited.
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