RIO DE JANEIRO, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed in a small plane crash Friday morning in a rural area of Campo Grande, the capital of Brazil's west-central state of Mato Grosso do Sul, authorities said.
The fire department confirmed that the pilot and a German researcher aboard the aircraft died.
The aircraft took off from a local airfield and was heading toward the Pantanal region of Mato Grosso do Sul. During the flight, the pilot apparently attempted to land on a private runway, possibly because of poor visibility caused by dense fog.
Rescue efforts were hampered by the terrain conditions and emergency vehicles became stuck on a dirt road leading to the crash site, delaying the arrival of rescue teams.
Witnesses working at a hangar near the private runway said they heard an explosion shortly before the crash. ■
