Brazilian emergency crews on Saturday recovered the remains of at least 50 victims aboard an airliner that plunged to the ground in the town of Vinhedo, near São Paulo, the day before, killing all 62 onboard.
The bodies of the pilot and co-pilot were identified, said Dario Pacheco, mayor of Vinhedo, who added that he expected all of the remains to have been recovered by the end of the day.
Four people with dual citizenship were among the victims – three Venezuelans and one Portuguese woman – said regional carrier Voepass, which operated the aircraft.
The Venezuelans were a four-year-old boy, his mother and grandmother, local outlet Globo News reported.
On Friday Voepass said the plane was carrying 57 passengers and four crew, but on Saturday the airline confirmed another unaccounted-for passenger had been on the flight, putting the number of deaths at 62.
Authorities are using seat assignments, physical characteristics, documents and belongings such as mobile phones to identify the victims, firefighter Maycon Cristo said at the crash site.
The plane’s black box was undergoing analysis, said Marcelo Moreno, the head of Brazilian aviation accident investigation centre Cenipa, at a press conference in Vinhedo.
The plane, an ATR 72 turboprop, was bound for the city of São Paulo from Cascavel, in the state of Paraná, and crashed at around 1:30pm in Vinhedo, 50 miles northwest of São Paulo. Despite coming down in a residential area, no one on the ground was hurt.
The aircraft was flying normally until 1:21pm, when it stopped responding to calls, and radar contact was lost at 1:22pm, Brazil’s air force said.
Pilots did not report an emergency or adverse weather conditions, the air force added.
According to the Flight Radar website, the plane was traveling at 17,000ft before plunging 4,000ft in two minutes, and then its signal was lost.
Video shared on social media showed the plane spiralling out of control as it plunged down into a cluster of trees, followed by a large plume of black smoke.
Another clip showed flames and smoke coming from the plane fuselage where it had apparently ploughed into the side of a house.
Burning debris and at least one body could be seen strewn across the gardens of a residential area, while emergency vehicles arrived.
Reuters contributed to this report
