Brasilia

Twelve people, including a baby, were killed on Sunday (Oct 29) in a small plane crash in the Brazilian Amazon. In a statement, the government of the northwestern state of Acre said that the plane, a single-engine Cessna Caravan, came down near the airport of Rio Branco shortly after takeoff. The plane had 10 passengers, the pilot and the co-pilot.

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All died at the scene, the statement said. Citing local media, the news agency AFP reported that the plane erupted in flames on impact, causing a forest fire in a remote area near Brazil's border with Peru and Bolivia. Most of the passengers were returning to the neighbouring Amazonas state after receiving medical care.

Video supposedly of the crash site on social media showed flaming wreckage in the forest.

This cash crash comes after 14 people were killed in a plane crash in the Brazilian on September 16. The plane was flying a group of Brazilian sport fishermen into the northern town of Barcelos, when it crashed in stormy weather, apparently after starting its descent too late and skidding off the end of the runway, officials said. 

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Initially, local media reported that US nationals were aboard the plane, but Amazonas officials said preliminary investigations indicated all the victims were Brazilian. The passengers were all men. 

In June, four Indigenous children survived a plane crash in the Colombian Amazon and then managed to stay alive for 40 days in the jungle before being rescued in a massive search.

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