SAO PAULO, Aug 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — All bodies have been recovered from the site of a plane crash in the Brazilian state of São Paulo which killed everyone on board, the authorities have confirmed.
Teams had been working to find and identify victims of the disaster after a twin-engine turboprop operated by airline Voepass came down in the town of Vinhedo.
The number of casualties was revised upwards on Saturday to 62.
Voepass said earlier that the ATR 72-500 was carrying 57 passengers and four crew between Cascavel in the southern state of Paraná to Guarulhos airport in São Paulo city. But it later confirmed there was another unaccounted-for passenger on the flight.
Footage circulating on social media showed a plane descending vertically, spiralling as it fell.
The aircraft crashed in a residential area, but no-one on the ground was injured. Officials said only one home in a local condominium complex was damaged.
The state of São Paulo said it concluded its operation to remove the victims’ bodies from the site at 18:30 local time on Saturday.
It added that the bodies – 34 males and 28 females – were being moved to a police morgue in the city of São Paulo, where they will be identified and released to the families.
Two of the victims, the captain and first officer, have already been identified, the state confirmed.
It added that family members will be staying in a hotel in the city to help with identifying the victims – 38 families have arrived so far.
The plane crash is Brazil’s worst since 2007, when a TAM Express plane crashed and burst into flames at São Paulo’s Congonhas airport, killing 199 people.
Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, expressed solidarity with the families and friends of the victims at an event where he was speaking.
“I have to be the bearer of very bad news and I would like everyone to stand up so that we can have a minute of silence,” he told his audience.
He posted on social media that news of the crash was “very sad”. “All my solidarity to the families and friends of the victims,” he said.
São Paulo’s state Governor, Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, has declared three days of mourning. — NNN-AGENCIES
