Brazil plane crash kills all 61 aboard; cause unclear
Aerial view of the wreckage of an airplane that crashed with 61 people on board in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, on August 9, 2024. (Photo by MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/AFP via Getty Images)
SAO PAULO, Brazil - A plane carrying 61 people on board crashed in a fiery wreck in a residential area of a city in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state Friday, the airline VoePass confirmed Friday.
The airline VoePass confirmed in a statement that a plane headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport Guarulhos crashed in the city of Vinhedo with 61 passengers and crew members aboard.
The statement didn’t say what caused 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, spiraling as it fell.
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.
Rescue workers are deployed after a Voepass passenger plane crashed with 62 people on board (Credit: Allison Sales/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Later, airline VOEPASS confirmed that all 61 people aboard were killed in the plane crash; the airline earlier said 62 were aboard.
Firefighters, military police and the civil defense authority dispatched teams to the crash site in Vinhedo.
This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.