July 18 (Bloomberg) -- A Brazilian passenger plane crashed and burst into flames on landing at Sao Paulo's domestic airport late yesterday. At least 200 people may have been killed, in what would be the country's worst air disaster.
Survivors probably won't be found on the plane, which was carrying 176 people, Sao Paulo State Governor Jose Serra said at a news conference broadcast by Band News television. The plane, built by Airbus SAS and operated by TAM SA, the country's biggest airline, slid off the runway, crossed a highway and hit a gas station and a building. Twenty-five people were killed on the ground, Band reported.
"This could be the worst plane crash ever in Brazil,'' Amaryllis Romano, an airline analyst at Tendencias Consultoria in Sao Paulo, said. "I'm numb. It's something that you always feared could happen but never really thought would.''.........
The plane's fuselage came to a rest inside a three-story building and was engulfed in flames, making it impossible for rescue workers to reach it.
Workers retrieved 27 bodies from the plane and another 25 on the ground, Douglas Ferrari, a doctor who took part in the rescue effort, told Band News. As many as 100 people may have been working in the building at the time of the crash, he said.
Eight people have been rescued from the site and are being treated at local hospitals, according to a spokeswoman for Sao Paulo city public health department.......