Sao Paulo: In a tragic incident, a plane carrying 61 passengers and crew members crashed in a residential area of Brazil's Sao Paulo state on Friday, killing all aboard. Brazilian President Lula da Silva on Saturday declared a three-day state of mourning as he observed a minute of silence for the victims.
"I must be the bearer of very bad news, and I would like everyone to stand so we can observe a minute of silence because a plane just fell in the town of Vinhedo in São Paulo... and it seems that all of them passed away," said President Lula.
The Voepass airline, which owned the crashed ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, provided details on the incident that killed all 57 passengers and four crew members on board. The plane was en route to São Paulo's international airport, Guarulhos, but tragically crashed in Vinhedo.
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A footage capturing moments before the crash was uploaded on social media showing the plane going into a tailspin as it plunged towards the earth behind a cluster of trees, followed by a large plume of black smoke. It was the deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 people died on board a Yeti Airlines plane in Nepal that stalled and crashed while making its landing approach.
"The company regrets to inform that all 61 people on board flight 2283 died at the site," the Voepass airline said in a statement. "At this time, Voepass is prioritising provision of unrestricted assistance to the victims' families and effectively collaborating with authorities to determine the causes of the accident."
The state's firefighters, military police and civil defence authority dispatched teams to the location. Sao Paulo's public security secretary Guilherme Derrite spoke to reporters and confirmed that no survivors had been found. He also said the plane's black box was recovered. Video obtained from a witness by The Associated Press and verified shows at least two bodies strewn about flaming pieces of wreckage. A report on Friday from Brazilian television network Globo's meteorological centre said it “confirmed the possibility of the formation of ice in the region of Vinhedo,” and local media cited experts pointing to icing as a potential cause for the crash.
Authorities began transferring the corpses to the morgue on Friday, and called on victims' family members to bring any medical, X-ray and dental exams in order as a means to help identify the bodies. French-Italian plane manufacturer ATR said in a statement that it had been informed that the accident involved its ATR 72-500 model, and said company specialists are “fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer.”
(with AP inputs)
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