Brazilian plane crashes with 174 on board

By Mario Andrada

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A Brazilian passenger plane carrying 174 people crashed into a fuel station and set off a huge fire at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport on Tuesday, killing at least one person.

Airport officials said 174 passengers and crew were on board the Airbus A320 flying from Porto Alegre in southern Brazil when it lost control on landing and skidded off the wet runway.

About a dozen ambulances raced to the crash site just outside the airport and television images showed the plane's tail sticking out from a building in flames as firefighters tried to put out the blaze.

The government said the body of one man was removed from the crash site. It gave no word on other fatalities or injuries.

Brazil's Globo News television said at least six people were taken to the hospital.

Witnesses said the plane, operated by Brazilian airline TAM, crashed through a wall and hit a fuel station.

Last September, more than 150 people were killed when a Brazilian passenger plane collided with a small executive jet and crashed in the Amazon jungle in the worst air accident in the country's history.