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24 dead in Brazil plane crash, officials say

  • Story Highlights
  • Four passengers survived, rescued by emergency teams
  • Plane crashes into tributary of Amazon River in Brazil
  • A 9-year-old is reportedly among the survivors
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(CNN) -- Twenty-four people died in a plane crash in Brazil's Amazon basin, civil defense authorities in western Brazil said Sunday.

Four passengers survived and were rescued by emergency teams after the plane -- a Brazilian-made Bandeirante turboprop -- went down Saturday afternoon.

The plane crashed in the Manacapuru River, a tributary of the Solimoes River, in Brazil's Amazonas state.

It had taken off from Coari, about 225 miles (360 kilometers) southwest of Manaus, the state capital.

Brazil's Folha de Sao Paulo, a national daily newspaper, said a 9-year-old was among the survivors.

Civil Defense Coordinator Daniel Guedes told O Coariense, a local Coari newspaper, that the plane was trying to make an emergency landing on a makeshift landing strip but crashed into the river.

"The survivors said they saw one of the plane's motors shut down. We thought he would try to land on a deactivated landing strip but he couldn't make it," said Guedes.

The newspaper also reported that the plane was hired by family members of a well-known local businessman.

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