A passenger plane crashed into a gated residential community in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state Friday, killing all 61 people aboard and leaving a smoldering wreck, officials and the airline said.
Officials did not say if anyone was killed on the ground in the neighborhood where the plane landed in the city of Vinhedo, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of the metropolis of Sao Paulo. But witnesses at the scene said there were no victims among local residents.
The airline Voepass said that its plane, an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, was headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport Guarulhos with 57 passengers and 4 crew members aboard when it crashed in Vinhedo. It provided a flight manifest with passenger names, but not their nationalities. A prior statement had said there were 58 passengers.
“The company regrets to inform that all 61 people on board flight 2283 died at the site”, Voepass said in a statement. “At this time, Voepass is prioritizing provision of unrestricted assistance to the victims’ families and effectively collaborating with authorities to determine the causes of the accident”.
It is Brazil’s worst plane crash since 2007, when a TAM Express plane crashed and burst into flames at São Paulo’s Congonhas airport, killing 199 people.
President Lula paid tribute to the victims at an event where he was speaking.
“I have to be the bearer of very bad news and I would like everyone to stand up so that we can have a minute of silence”, he told his audience.
He posted on social media that news of the crash was “very sad”. “All my solidarity to the families and friends of the victims”, he said.
The nearby town of Valinhos sent 20 emergency personnel to the crash site as part of a joint operation, local authorities said.
“Twenty men were mobilised, including three vehicles from the Valinhos Municipal Civil Guard and one vehicle from the Civil Defense”, Valinhos City Hall said in a statement.
ATR said in a statement that it had been informed of an accident involving an ATR 72-500.
“Our first thoughts are with all the individuals affected by this event”, it said.
“The ATR specialists are fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer”.
