An investigation has begun into the plane crash in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo in which all 57 passengers and four crew members died.
The plane was flying from Cascavel in the southern state of Paraná to Guarulhos Airport in the city of Sao Paulo when it crashed in the city of Vinhedo, according to airline Voepass, the BBC reports.
Footage circulating on social media shows the plane descending vertically and spiraling down.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed solidarity with the families and friends of the victims, while Sao Paulo State Governor Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas declared three days of mourning.
Authorities said the flight recorders have been returned. ATR, the Franco-Italian aircraft manufacturer, said it would cooperate with the investigation.
The plane landed in a residential area, but no one on the ground was injured. Officials say only one home in a local apartment complex was damaged.
The video shows a large area on fire and wreckage in smoke in an area full of houses. Police and firefighters are on the scene.
According to tracking website Flightradar24, the plane took off from Cascavel at 11.56am local time and the last signal received from the plane was about an hour and a half later.
Brazil’s civil aviation agency said the plane, which was built in 2010, was “in good operational condition, with valid registration and airworthiness certificates”.
The four crew members at the time of the accident had proper licenses and valid qualifications, it added.
Also, the Uopeccan Hospital in Cascavel told BBC Brasil that two of their trainee doctors were among the deceased passengers.
It is Brazil’s worst plane crash since 2007, when a TAM Express plane crashed and caught fire at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport, killing 199 people.
President Lula paid tribute to the victims at the event where he spoke.
“I have to bear some very bad news and I would like everyone to stand up so we can have a minute’s silence,” he told the crowd.
He posted on social media that the news of the accident was “very sad”.
“All my solidarity with the families and friends of the victims,” he said.
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