Firefighters work at the site where a TAM airlines commercial aircraft crashed yesterday in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The pilot of the airliner that burst into flames after trying to land on a short, rain-slicked runway apparently tried to take off again, barely clearing rush-hour traffic on a major highway. The feared death toll in the crash rose yesterday to 195. - APSAO PAULO (Reuters):
Rescue workers in Brazil pulled charred bodies from smoking wreckage and damaged buildings yesterday after about 200 people were killed in the country's worst air disaster.
The Airbus A320 was carrying 186 passengers and crew when it skidded on a short, rain-soaked runway at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport late on Tuesday, hurdling a busy road before slamming into a gas station and cargo terminal.
An acrid haze hung over the crowded neighbourhood near Brazil's busiest airport as rescuers wearing masks put bodies in refrigerated trucks bound for the morgue.
Dental records and jewellery were being used to identify victims, with the country's second major crash in less than a year escalating criticism about aviation safety.
