Seven people, including a businessman, his wife and their three children, died this Tuesday when their plane crashed in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, in the southeast of the country, reported official sources.

The executive aircraft, model King Air 360, crashed shortly after taking off in a wooded area near the Faculty of Technology of the State of Sao Paulo (Fatec), in the São Paulo municipality of Piracicaba, according to the Fire Department.

The seven occupants who appeared on the passenger list of the flight died in the accident, which occurred around 9 a.m. local time, according to the aforementioned source.

Among the victims is the businessman Celso Silveira Mello Filho, shareholder of the Cosan group (one of the largest conglomerates in the sugar and alcohol sector in the world) and brother of the chairman of the company’s Board of Directors, Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello.

According to Cosan, his wife and three children also died with him, as well as the pilot and copilot who were directing the aircraft at that time.

According to images from security cameras in the area, the device exploded after colliding with a wooded region, causing a fire at the site, where several teams of firefighters were transferred to extinguish the flames.

The Police informed that it will open an investigation to clarify the causes of the accident.

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