As feared the worst happened to the 155 people aboard the Boeing from Gol Airline that crashed yesterday while flying over the Amazon jungle: everybody died.
Initial reports held the hope that at least five people had been spared. In its latest announcement, the FAB (Brazilian Air Force) say that it isn’t so.
After 20 hours of search, the FAB men arrived to the location where the plane’s wreckage had been spotted. Initial access was possible thanks to a clearing in the jungle. From there the Brazilian military cleared other areas so that more helicopters could land.
Military policemen from Peixoto of Azevedo, the nearest city from the disaster location, informed that the bodies are mutilated and in very bad shape.
This morning the Public Safety Secretary of Mato Grosso, Célio Wilson of Oliveira, informed that some Kayapó and Metutirê Indians, who live in an area close to the fallen plane, had spotted five survivors.
More than 200 Air Force men took part in the search and rescue operation. At the end of the morning, the aircraft used in the operation had flown about 100 hours.
The commission that will investigate the cause of the accident is already in the area and has started its work of collecting material for their inquiry. They will have three months to turn in their final report.
The Boeing 737-800 carried 149 passengers and six flight crews. This is the worst accident ever in Brazilian aviation history.
Even before the deaths’s confirmation, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, released a note saying that he had received "with deep sorrow" the news about the accident that "took the lives of the passengers and flight crew that flew from Manaus to Brasília". The president has decreed three days of national mourning.
Gol airline announced, through a note that it is ready to assist the relatives of all those in the plane in every aspect, including hotel, transportation, food, medical care, specialized psychological help, religious assistance and funeral costs.
Relatives of the victims, however, have been complaining of the scarcity of information they are getting from Gol.