A plane carrying 61 people crashed into a residential area Friday afternoon in Vinhedo, a city in southern Brazil’s Sao Paulo state.
Sao Paulo’s public security secretary, Guilherme Derrite, confirmed that there were no survivors among those on board. Witnesses said no one on the ground was hurt.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. Brazil’s Federal Police began an investigation.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva interrupted an event he was attending to announce the crash.
“I would like everyone to stand up so that we can observe a minute of silence because a plane has just crashed in the city of Vinhedo, in Sao Paulo, with 58 passengers and four crew members, and it appears they all died,” he said.
A later statement updated the toll to 57 passengers and four crew members.
Video of the crash posted on social media captured a spiraling plane falling to the ground. The crash was blocked from view by trees but shortly afterward smoke rose in the sky. The plane’s black box was recovered intact, Derrite said.
The VOEPASS Linhas Aéreas twin-engine turboprop made by ATR was headed to Guarulhos, Sao Paulo’s international airport, after leaving Cascavel, in the Brazilian state of Parana. ATR is a joint venture of France’s Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A.
Brazilian Aeronautical Registry data showed the VOEPASS aircraft was made in 2010, and the airline bought it in 2022.
ATR said in a statement that it had been informed of the crash.
“Our first thoughts are with all the individuals affected by this event. The ATR specialists are fully engaged to support both the investigation and the customer,” the statement said.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
