A passenger plane carrying 62 people crashed in a fiery wreck near Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Friday. The aircraft, operated by Brazilian airline VoePass, was en route from Cascavel in southern Brazil when it entered a spiraling descent before impact.
All 58 passengers and 4 crew members on board are presumed dead, according to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy and observed a moment of silence for the victims.
Emergency responders, including seven firefighting teams, were dispatched to the crash site in Vinhedo, a city close to Sao Paulo.
Shocking footage of the plane’s descent and the subsequent inferno has been widely circulated on social media.
The twin-engine turboprop plane was built in 2010 and was flying at 17,000 feet when it began its fatal plunge, according to flight tracking data. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
VoePass has confirmed the incident but has yet to provide details about the circumstances leading to the tragedy.
