Dozens die in Brazilian air crash

08/02/2009| IslamWeb

At least 24 bodies have been pulled from a river in the Amazon jungle by rescue workers after a small aircraft crashed in Brazil.

 

Divers retrieved the corpses from inside the airplane, which came to ground about 50 miles from Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, on Saturday afternoon, Jair Ruas Braga, a firefighter, said.

 

Paulo Roberto Pereira, a spokesman for regional charter airline Manaus Aero Taxi, said: "In total there were 28 people on board, including eight small children and two crew members."

 

At least seven children died, along with nine women and eight men. Their bodies have been identified by relatives.

 

A nine-year-old survived the crash, which happened after one of the engines failed, relatives of the four survivors said.

 

'Bad weather'

 

Pereira said that the pilot had told air traffic control that he wanted to return to the departure airport in Coari because of bad weather.

 

The aircraft hit the crown of a tree before plunging into the Manacapuru River, Roberto Rocha, undersecretary of civil defense, said.

 

Local media reported that those who survived the crash had opened the door and left the aircraft as it was sinking under the water.

 

About 40 firefighters, including nine divers, and civil defense officials searched throughout Saturday night for survivors.

 

Officials believe that the aircraft attempted an emergency landing at the nearby Panamacapuru airport but crashed in the river instead.

 

An investigation is under way.

 

The EMB-100 Bandeirante turboprop, made in Brazil, was said to have undergone all of its safety maintenance checks, and had up to date documentation, Brazil's Civil Aeronautics Agency said.

 

PHOTO CAPTION

 

An aerial view of the Amazon river next to Manaus City, Brazil.

 

Al-Jazeera