A passenger plane carrying 61 people crashed on Friday outside São Paulo, Brazil, killing all onboard, according to the Brazilian authorities.
“The company regrets to inform that all 61 people on board flight 2283 died at the scene,” air company Voepass said in a statement, revising the death toll down from initial assessments of 62 dead. There were 57 passengers and 4 crew were on board, according to Voepass.
Several viral videos on social media that captured the moment of the tragic crash showed the plane spiraling out of the sky while several other visuals depicted the wreckage in flames on the ground.
Brazil plane crash: What did the airline say?
According to the airline, a plane headed for Sao Paulo's international airport Guarulhos crashed with 58 passengers and 4 crew members aboard. The statement didn't say what caused the accident.
“There is still no confirmation of how the accident occurred or the current situation of the people on board,” according to a statement by airline Voepass.
"The aircraft took off from Cascavel/PR bound for Guarulhos Airport, with 58 passengers and four crew members on board," the statement further said, according to BBC.
"Voepass has activated all means to support those involved. There is still no confirmation of how the accident occurred or the current situation of the people on board", the airline informed adding that further information would be provided to passengers, their families and employees in 24 hours.
According to the data shared by Flightradar24, the flight left Cascavel and was en route to São Paulo when it lost signal shortly before 1:30 p.m. local time.
Firefighters who were promptly pressed into service confirmed that the plane crashed in the city of Vinhedo, but did not offer more details.
Local television network GloboNews came up with a footage of a large area on fire and smoke coming out of a plane fuselage in a residential area. In another footage, they showed a plane plummeting at accelerated speed towards the ground.
Taking cognisance of the event, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was attending an event in southern Brazil, asked the crowd to stand and observe a minute of silence.
