No survivors from plane that crashed in Brazil with 61 people on board, officials say | Brazil

A passenger plane with 61 people on board has crashed in a fiery wreck in Brazil’s São Paulo state, killing all passengers and crew.

The airline Voepass initially reported 62 passengers but later revised the figure down, confirming the deaths of all 57 passengers and 4 crew members on board.

“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,” the company said in a statement

“There are no survivors,” Col Emerson Massera of the Brazilian military police told reporters at the crash site in the city of Vinhedo late on Thursday.

Massera said the fire has been brought under control, but about 50 firefighters are still working to cool down the area. “It’s a very sad scene; our work now is focused on clearing the area so that the investigation and identification of the bodies can proceed,” he said.

The ATR-72 plane operated by Voepass was en route from Cascavel, in the state of Paraná, to Guarulhos, in São Paulo, when it crashed in a residential neighborhood about 76km away from the state capital. Voepass said 58 passengers and four crew members were on board.

No casualties were reported on the ground, according to Col Cassio Araújo de Freitas, the general commander of the military police, who said: “We have no reports of any other victims besides those on the aircraft.”

According to the Flight Radar website, the plane was traveling at 17,000ft before plunging 4,000ft in two minutes, and then its GPS signal was lost.

Video shared on social media showed the plane spiraling out of control as it plunged down into a cluster of trees, followed by a large plume of black smoke.

Another clip showed flames and smoke coming from the plane fuselage where it had apparently plowed into the side of a house. Burning debris and at least one body could be seen scattered across the gardens of a residential area, while emergency vehicles arrived.

Ana Lúcia de Lima, who lives nearby, told the UOL news website that the noise was so loud it “sounded like it was falling into my house… The first blast was strong, there was already dark smoke coming out, and then there were several more explosions.”

The Brazilian air Force and the federal police reported that they have sent teams of investigators to the site. The national civil aviation agency stated that it was reviewing the regulatory status of the aircraft and crew.

Voepass stated that it “prioritises providing unrestricted assistance to the victims’ families and is effectively cooperating with the authorities to investigate the causes of the accident,” the company said, adding that the aircraft had taken off “without any flight restrictions, with all its systems functioning properly for the operation.”

Speaking at an event in southern Brazil on Friday afternoon, just minutes after the accident, the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, called for a minute of silence for those lost in the crash.