A plane carrying 175 people burst into flames after skidding off a runway in Sao Paulo late Tuesday, igniting a massive fireball. Officials fear there are no survivors.
If confirmed, it would be the deadliest crash in Brazil's history.
The Tam airline's Airbus-320 slid off a runway, crossed a road during rush-hour traffic and crashed into a gas station, bursting into flames close to a nearby warehouse.
"All of a sudden I heard a loud explosion, and the ground beneath my feet shook," witness Elias Rodrigues Jesus told The Associated Press.
"I looked up and I saw a huge ball of fire, and then I smelled the stench of kerosene and sulfur."
Jesus saw at least one body mutilated by the fire, and local television reported that an unknown number of workers at the warehouse were also injured.
Tam Linhas Aereas flight 3054 was arriving at Sao Paulo from Porto Alegre, located in southern Brazil. The company said 169 passengers and six crewmembers were on board.
In Porto Alegre, relatives of the passengers waited for news, angry and frustrated that the airline was unable to immediately release a passenger list.
The cause of the crash is unknown. But the Airbus-320 touched down in heavy rain, and skidded off a runway that critics say is too short for large planes landing in poor weather conditions.
In February, a federal court had banned takeoffs and landings by large jets at the airport, citing safety concerns. That decision was later overruled by an appeals court, partly because of the economic impact of such a ban.
Last September, Brazil suffered another tragedy when a Gol Aerolinhas Inteligentes SA Boeing 737 crashed into an executive jet.
While the executive jet touched down safely, the Gol jet crashed into the Amazon rainforest, killing all 154 people on board.
The two U.S. pilots on the executive jet were indicted on the equivalent of manslaughter charges, along with four flight controllers.
Critics say Brazil's controllers have difficulty speaking English, the international language of aviation, and there are gaps in radar coverage.
Controllers haven't shied away from expressing the same concerns, holding demonstrations that have caused flight delays and angered travellers.
With files from The Associated Press
