(São Paulo) All 62 people on board died on Friday when their plane crashed in the São Paulo region in southeastern Brazil, a tragedy whose causes remain unknown for the time being.
The plane, an ATR-72 from the Voepass company carrying 58 passengers and four crew members, was flying from Cascavel, in the southern state of Parana, to Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo.
It crashed at 1:25 p.m. (12:25 p.m. Eastern Time) in Vinhedo, a town located some 80 km northwest of São Paulo.
“There were no survivors,” the Valinhos city hall, which participated in the rescue operations in the neighboring town of Vinhedo, said in an email to AFP.
PHOTO ANDRE PENNER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Police officers stand guard near the crash site
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva mourned the tragedy at an official event in the south of the country and observed a minute of silence for the victims.
“A plane has just crashed into the city of Vinhedo, in the state of São Paulo, with 58 passengers and four crew members and it seems that all are dead,” Lula said, before the death toll was confirmed.
In a statement, Voepass reported “the occurrence of an accident of flight 2283”, specifying that “there is not yet any confirmation concerning the circumstances of the accident”.
Cascavel Mayor Leonardo Paranhos confirmed on social media the 62 deaths, “a tragedy for all of us.” “We are taking all necessary measures to help and provide information to the relatives” of the victims, he said.
“Terrifying”
The aircraft is an ATR 72-500. The Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, a subsidiary of Airbus and the Italian Leonardo, expressed in a press release its “thoughts” for the “people affected by this event”. “ATR specialists are fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation and our customer,” the company added.
Images released by local media showed the plane falling at high speed, and others showed a long column of smoke rising above what appeared to be a residential area.
IMAGE FROM A VIDEO TAKEN FROM THE X @BNONEWS ACCOUNT
Nathalie Cicari, who lives near where the plane crashed, told CNN Brasil that the shock was “terrifying.”
“I was having lunch, I heard a very loud noise very close to me, I thought it was a drone,” but “much louder,” she said.
“I went out on the balcony and saw the plane circling. I realized that this was not a normal movement for a plane,” she continued, saying she thought “like in the movies, praying.”
Nathalie Cicari was not injured but had to leave her house, which was filled with “black smoke” from the accident.
PHOTO ANDRE PENNER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Authorities said the crash did not cause any casualties on the ground among residents of the affected area.
“I saw a plane fall, out of control, almost over my house,” resident Ricardo Rodrigues told local channel Band News. “I arrived at the scene and saw many bodies on the ground, many.”
“The bodies are being transferred to the morgue,” Vinhedo city hall told AFP.
Military police at the scene said the accident had not caused any casualties among residents in the crash zone and that the fire caused by the plane’s fall was now under control.
State Civil Defense firefighter teams were also deployed to Vinhedo.
Tarcisio de Freitas, the governor of the state of Sao Paulo, who was traveling to the state of Espirito Santo (southeast), returned to Vinhedo to assist the work of the rescue teams.