At Least 10 Killed As Small Plane Crashes Into Brazil Tourist City

A small plane has crashed into shops in the center of the tourist city of Gramado in southern Brazil on Sunday, killing all 10 people on board. Officials said that more than a dozen people on the ground were injured in the incident. The aircraft’s owner and pilot, Luiz Claudio Galeazzi, was killed along with nine members of his family.

Brazil’s Civil Defense Agency reportedly said that the twin-engine Piper PA-42-1000 hit the chimney of a home and then the second floor of a nearby building before crashing into a mobile phone shop in a largely residential neighbourhood of Gramado. Located in the Serra Gaucha mountains, Gramado is the most popular tourist destination in the region. 

Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite told a news conference that 17 people on the ground were injured. He also added that the cause of the accident was being investigated by the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center.