Family of 10 Killed in Plane Crash in Southern Brazil; 17 Injured on Ground

A tragic plane crash claimed the lives of ten family members early Sunday morning when their small aircraft, a Piper Cheyenne 400 turboprop, crashed into a commercial district in the city of Gramado, southern Brazil. 

Civil defence authorities initially reported nine fatalities, later updating the death toll to ten.

The plane, piloted by businessman Luiz Claudio Salgueiro Galeazzi, took off from the nearby city of Canela. Shortly after takeoff, it struck the chimney of a building, collided with a house, and crashed into a furniture store. An inn was also damaged in the incident. According to the Rio Grande do Sul state security secretariat, there were no survivors aboard the aircraft.

At least 17 people on the ground were injured two of them seriously, with several others treated for smoke inhalation. Cleber dos Santos Lima of the state civil police confirmed that there were no survivors from the crash.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation. Gramado, a popular tourist destination, attracts many visitors during the Christmas season, making the incident even more tragic.

This crash comes just months after Brazil’s worst air tragedy in 17 years, when a twin-engine plane with 62 people aboard crashed in Vinhedo, São Paulo state, in August.

Additionally, on Saturday, 41 people lost their lives in a bus crash in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.