7:32 am today

Plane crash in Brazil kills all 62 on board

7:32 am today

By Ione Wells and Robert Plummer of BBC

A plane has crashed in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, killing all 62 people on board.

The twin-engine turboprop plane was flying from Cascavel in the southern state of Paraná to the main airport in São Paulo city when it came down in the town of Vinhedo, the Voepass airline said.

Footage circulating on social media showed a plane descending vertically, spiralling as it fell.

The plane was carrying 58 passengers and four crew. Local authorities said there were no survivors.

Authorities said the plane landed on a residential building.

Brazil's GloboNews television network showed pictures of a large area on fire and smoking wreckage in an area full of houses.

Police and fire services are at the scene and local hospitals have been alerted.

According to tracking website Flightradar24, the plane was built in 2010 and left Cascavel at 11:56 local time. The last signal received from the aircraft was about an hour and a half later.

Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, held a minute's silence at an event he was speaking at.

He posted on social media the news of the crash was "Very sad. All my solidarity to the families and friends of the victims."

This story was originally published by BBC