14 KILLED IN BRAZIL PLANE CRASH
Officials said that no survivors were found when an aircraft carrying 14 passengers crashed in the Brazilian Amazon on Saturday while attempting to land in the tourist resort of Barcelos during bad weather. According to Amazonas state security secretary Vinicius Almeida, the tiny plane’s pilot appeared to unintentionally start landing halfway down the runway as he approached the isolated town amid heavy rain and poor visibility. All 12 passengers and two crew members perished in the incident after the jet veered off the runway, according to him. The state administration stated in a statement that preliminary investigations suggested the passengers were all Brazilian guys visiting the area to go sport fishing.
Governor Wilson Lima said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “Our teams have been on the ground responding since the moment of the crash to provide the necessary support.” “I offer my support and prayers to the family and friends of the victims.” According to media sources, the little white plane was belly-down on a gravel track with its front end wedged into the nearby thick undergrowth. The aircraft was an Embraer EMB-110, a twin-engine turboprop produced in Brazil. It was travelling on a 90-minute trip from Manaus, the state capital, to Barcelos. Two planes that were reaching Barcelos at the same moment, according to officials, had to turn back to Manaus due of the weather. Locals who live close to the airport were the first to arrive to the scene, according to news source G1, and they assisted rescue personnel in removing the victims’ bodies from the aircraft.
TV footage showed a crowd gathered near the accident scene, many of them standing in the rain beneath umbrellas as rescuers searched inside the wrecked wreckage. Authorities announced that the investigation into the incident will be conducted by the police and air force of Brazil. Initial news reports suggested that US citizens could have been on board, however Amazonas officials claimed that initial evidence suggested that all the casualties were Brazilian. According to officials, the corpses of the fatalities would be brought to the state capital on Sunday for identification. They said that because night takeoffs and landings are prohibited in the area, travelling sooner was not possible. With investigators and emergency personnel, “an air force aircraft will depart Manaus tomorrow around 5:00 am,” said Almeida. It is anticipated that we will be able to transport the remains to Manaus tomorrow, send them straight to forensics, and then return them to the families.
Barcelos is surrounded by a number of national parks and other protected areas and is situated on the Rio Negro, an Amazon tributary. Peak fishing season is now underway in this area, which is well-known for producing tropical river species like the “tucunare,” or peacock bass. According to Amazonastur, the government-run tourism organisation, Amazonas is a popular adventure travel destination and is largely covered in deep jungle.