Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has declared three days of national mourning following the tragic accident in which a plane with 61 people on board crashed in the country.
A plane crashed in the state of Sao Paulo, in the southeastern part of Brazil, as a result of which all on board lost their lives.
The cause of the accident is unknown. The plane, built by Franco-Italian company ATR, was carrying 57 passengers and had four crew members, according to carrier Voepass.
The flight was from Cascavel, Paraná State, to Guarulius International Airport, in Sao Paulo. After a sudden loss of altitude, the plane crashed at 1:25 p.m. (7:25 p.m. Bulgarian time) in Vientiane, about 80 kilometers northwest of the city of Sao Paulo, causing consternation among residents.
Shocking footage released by Brazilian media shows the plane losing altitude at high speed, spinning out of control before crashing into a neighborhood.
The Brazilian Center for the Investigation and Prevention of Aviation Accidents (CENIPA) has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the crash.
According to Brazil's civil aviation authorities, the plane complied with all applicable regulations. Its first flight took place in April 2010, according to records on the specialized website planespotters.net.
According to CENIPA data, not counting yesterday's crash, there have been 108 aviation accidents and crashes in Brazil since the beginning of the year, with a total of 49 deaths.
In the last ten years in the Latin American country, 746 people died in 1665 crashes and accidents.
In 2007, an Airbus A320 of Brazilian airline TAM skidded off the runway after landing at Sao Paulo's Congonhas Airport and crashed into a cargo hold, killing all 187 people on board and 12 others on the ground.
Just two years later, an Air France Airbus A330-230 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean with 228 people on board in a turbulent area. I BGNES, AFP
