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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Brazil plane crash: Bodies recovered from wreckage after 62 killed

Recovery teams have begun removing the remains of passengers from the wreckage of a plane that crashed in Brazil on Friday.

The plane, an ATR-72 turboprop, was bound for Sao Paulo from Cascavel, in the state of Parana, when it crashed around 1.30pm local time (5.30pm in the UK) in the town of Vinhedo.

Regional airline Voepass initially said the plane was carrying 57 passengers and four crew, before confirming on Saturday there had been another passenger on the flight, putting the number of casualties at 62.

Brazilian civil defence teams worked through the night removing the remains of passengers.

At least 21 bodies had been recovered by Saturday morning, Sao Paulo state government said, with two victims identified on the site.

All the bodies were being moved to Sao Paulo's police morgue.

A video showed the moment of the plane crashing to earth (AP)

The position of the bodies on the crashed plane, physical characteristics, documents and belongings such cell phones were being used to aid in identification, firefighter Maycon Cristo said at the crash site.

"Once all this evidence has been collected, we will remove the victims from the wreckage and place them in the vehicle to be transported to SaoPaulo," he said.

Relatives of the victims had been brought to Sao Paulo to help provide genetic material for DNA identification of body parts and other information on the dead, said Sao Paulo state government Civil Defence Coordinator Henguel Pereira.

Vinhedo, where the plane crashed, lies some 80km (50 miles) north-west of Sao Paulo.

Franco-Italian ATR, jointly owned by Airbus and Leonardo, is the dominant producer of regional turboprop planes seating 40 to 70 people.

The cause of the crash is not yet clear. ATR told news agency Reuters on Friday that its specialists were "fully engaged" with an investigation into the crash.

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