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19 die in Brazil plane crash

RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): A plane carrying 19 persons crashed on a mountainous region outside Rio de Janeiro, killing all aboard, civil defence officials said on Saturday.

The small LET 410 double-propeller plane belonging to the local Team airline went missing on Friday night about 20 minutes after leaving the city of Macae, 180 km east of Rio de Janeiro, said Roni Alberto de Azevedo, a spokesman with the Rio de Janeiro State Civil Defence Department.

Rescue workers found the plane's wreckage near Saquarema, some 100 km east of Rio, nearly 10 hours after it disappeared from radar screens.

The aircraft carrying 17 passengers and two crew members was due to land on Friday evening in Rio after a short domestic flight. There were no survivors, airline director David Farias said.

Employees from Brazil's state-owned energy company Petrobras were among the victims, Mr. Farias said, adding that none were high-ranking officials. The crash took place in a remote area and rescue workers were having difficulties reaching the wreckage to retrieve the victims' bodies.

Relatives were taken to a local hotel to wait for more information from the airline, which operates flights in the States of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. — AP

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