Ten people are dead after a small plane they were riding in crashed in the southern Brazilian city of Gramado Sunday morning, officials said.
An additional 17 people were taken to regional hospitals with injuries, Governor Eduardo Leite said at a press conference Sunday, according to a statement released by the Rio Grande do Sul State Government, the Brazilian state where Gramado is located.
Two of the injured victims are in serious condition and are being transferred to Porto Alegre, according to the statement. An earlier statement from the government in Rio Grande do Sul indicated that most of those injured were taken to the hospital because of smoke inhalation from the fire caused by the crash.
All 10 people who died so far were passengers on the plane and were from the same family.
It was not immediately clear if there were other passengers on the plane.
The crash occurred between 9 and 10 a.m., shortly after the plane took off from the Canela Airport, according to the governor’s office statement. The plane slammed into the structure of a building under construction and then fell into a furniture store. It also hit a hotel near the highway.
“I deeply regret the accident and highlight the immediate action of the security forces in attending to and rescuing the victims and controlling the scene of the accident. Now we need to officially identify the victims and investigate the conditions of the accident,” Leite said, according to the statement.
He said the security forces will “closely monitor the progress of this case” as the Civil Police and the Center for the Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa) investigate the causes and circumstances of the accident. The General Institute of Forensics is working to identify the victims.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shared his condolences with the families of the victims in a post on X.
“The Air Force is investigating the causes of the accident and the federal government is at the disposal of the state government and local authorities to clarify the situation as soon as possible,” he said.
