Plane crashes near Brazil’s Sao Paulo, all 62 on board presumed dead

An airliner with 62 people on board crashed in Brazil on Friday, and the country’s president said that all passengers are presumed dead.

Video shared on social media showed what appeared to be the plane plunging down behind a cluster of trees, followed by a large plume of black smoke.

Airline Voepass said the plane, which had taken off from Cascavel, in the state of Parana, bound for Sao Paulo’s main international airport, crashed in the town of Vinhedo, about 80 kilometres northwest of Sao Paulo.

The airline said it could not provide further information on what caused the plane, which had a PS-VPB registration, to crash.

The aircraft was listed by flight tracker FlightRadar24 as an ATR 72-500 turboprop. ATR is jointly owned by Airbus and the Italian aerospace group Leonardo.

Speaking at an event, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva asked for a minute of silence for the victims of the crash, adding that all on board were presumed dead.

Sao Paulo’s state fire brigade rushed seven crews to the scene of the accident, according to a post on social media.