Private plane crash in Brazil kills pilot and his family

Ten members of a family have died after a private plane crashed into the city of Gramado in southern Brazil.

Brazilian businessman Luiz Claudio Galeazzi, who was piloting the plane, was killed in the crash alongside his wife, three daughters and other family members, a statement from his company said.

The small plane reportedly hit the chimney of a building, as well as a house and a shop as it fell.

Local authorities say 17 people on the ground were injured in the accident, including two in a serious condition.

Mr Galeazzi, 61, was taking his family on a trip to Jundiaí, in the São Paulo state, according to reports in Brazilian media.

All 10 victims of the crash were members of Mr Galeazzi's family, Rio Grande do Sul state governor Eduardo Leite told a press conference. He added that the plane had taken off in unfavourable weather conditions.

The plane reportedly flew for 3km (1.8 miles) before falling into the urban area of the city just minutes after take-off on Sunday morning.

"At the time, it was revving up. You could see that it was accelerating a lot," an eyewitness, Nadia Hansen, told Reuters news agency.

"Then there was a bang as it hit the building and then it passed close to my house and then it fell, and I thought it had dropped in front of the house," she said.

Pictures from the scene show emergency workers attending to the smoking wreckage among debris from badly damaged buildings.

Mr Galeazzi was the chief executive of Galeazzi & Associados, a corporate restructuring and crisis management firm based in São Paulo.

The company issued a statement on LinkedIn, paying tribute to the 61-year-old.

"Luiz Galeazzi will be eternally remembered for his dedication to his family and for his remarkable career as the leader of Galeazzi & Associados," the statement said.

"We also sympathize with all those affected by the accident in the region," it said, adding that it would co-operate with investigations into the accident.

The plane crashed near the centre of Gramado, hitting a house, a furniture store and a hotel, according to Brazilian media.

State governor Mr Leite said the cause of the accident was being investigated by the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa).

"The entire state is mobilized here to provide the necessary assistance," he told reporters at the scene.

Gramado is a popular tourist destination, known for hosting events during the festive period.

The region was severely hit in May this year by unprecedented flooding, which claimed dozens of lives and displaced around 150,000 people from their homes.