Seven survive plane crash in Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, Dec 14 (IANS/EFE) Seven people survived with only slight injuries when their small airplane crashed on a soyabean farm in the southern Brazilian state of Parana, a media report said.

The two-engine BET-90 was about 20 km from the airport in the city of Londrina, its destination, Sunday night when a strong wind gust destabilised the aircraft and caused it to crash in a field, firefighters told TV Taroba Londrina.

The plane exploded a few minutes after it crashed, but the two crewmembers and five passengers managed to get out of the aircraft with only slight injuries, paramedics said.

About 20 firefighters participated in the rescue operation.

The pilot, Jose Alexandre Bento, 32, his co-pilot and the passengers had taken off from Uberaba, a municipality in the southern state of Minas Gerais, where they had been on work-related business, and they were returning to Londrina.

Police Monday began investigating the crash to determine if the plane went down due to the wind gust or if it was some other factor that caused the accident.

–IANS/EFE