The airline VoePass confirmed in a statement on Friday that a plane heading to Sao Paulo's international airport Guarulhos crashed with 58 passengers and four crew members aboard.
The statement did not say what caused the accident.
Sao Paulo's state fire brigade confirmed on social media that a plane crashed in Vinhedo and that it has sent seven crews to the region of the accident.
Brazilian television network GloboNews showed footage of a large area on fire and smoke coming out of an apparent plane fuselage in a residential area full of houses.
Additional footage on GloboNews showed a plane drifting downward vertically, spiralling as it fell.
O Centro de Investigação e Prevenção de Acidentes Aeronáuticos emitiu uma nota afirmando que a Força Aérea Brasileira já está atendendo a ocorrência do avião que caiu em Vinhedo nesta sexta-feira (9). — CNN Brasil (@CNNBrasil) #BastidoresCNN pic.twitter.com/ewm8ZuuXNaAugust 9, 2024
At an event in southern Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asked the crowd to stand and observe a minute of silence as he shared the news.
He said that it appeared that all passengers and crew aboard had died, without elaborating as to how that information had been obtained.
We are following reports of a crash of a VoePass ATR 72 near São Paulo, Brazil. We are currently processing granular data from this flight. — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) https://t.co/1MwrzhJ0gU pic.twitter.com/ozBx2sL5lZAugust 9, 2024
The Capela neighborhood where the plane crashed sits in a district far from the centre of the prosperous city that's home to 77,000 residents.
The plane departed from Cascavel, in the state of Parana.
Authorities sealed off the entrance to the residential area where the plane went down, as journalists outside watched as official vehicles including ambulances drove in and waited for updates.
with PA and AP
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