Sao Paulo : Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday declared three days of mourning in the country after a tragic plane crash killed 61 people in Sao Paulo.
A regular turboprop plane, flying from Cascavel in the southern state of Paraná to Guarulhos airport in São Paulo city, crashed in the town of Vinhedo, killing all 61 people on board on Friday.
President Lula, in a post on X, revealed the number of casualties and announced that the mourning period would be observed in memory of the victims.
“In memory of the 61 victims of the tragic accident in Vinhedo, we have declared three days of official mourning in the country,” he wrote.
The ATR 72-500 was carrying 57 passengers and four crew.
Although the plane landed in a residential area, no one on the ground suffered any casualties.
Video shared on social media showed the plane spinning out of control as it plunged down behind a cluster of trees near houses and soon a large plume of black smoke was arising.
The Voepass airline, which owned the crashed ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop, provided details on the tragic incident.
“The company regrets to inform that all 61 people on board flight 2283 died at the site,” Voepass said in a statement.
“At this time, Voepass is prioritizing the provision of unrestricted assistance to the victims’ families and is fully cooperating with authorities to determine the causes of the accident,” the statement added.
Currently, aviation experts are investigating the cause of the tragic plane crash.
Brazil ’s civil aviation agency released a statement on Friday confirming that the plane which recently made with a tragic crash had been “in good operating condition, with valid registration and airworthiness certificates”
Moreover, it also claimed that four crew members on board at the time of the accident were all duly licensed and had valid qualifications and were deemed fit to fly.