Amazonas State Security Secretary, Colonel Vinicius Almeida (center), flanked by the commander of the Seventh Regional Air Command (VII COMAR), brigadier David Almeida (left) and the mayor of Barcelos, Edson Mendes, speaks during a press conference in Manaus, Brazil, on September 16, 2023, about the plane crash in which 14 people died during landing at Barcelos airport. (PHOTO / AFP)

SAO PAULO - At least 14 people were killed when a small plane crashed on Saturday in Barcelos, an inland city of Amazonas state in northern Brazil, local authorities said.

"They were all tourists who were going on a fishing trip," Amazonas governor Wilson Lima told a press conference, adding that initial information showed all the tourists were Brazilian.

It was reported that the pilot had trouble finding the runway for landing in Barcelos, a sport fishing destination.

The Manaus Aerotaxi airline, owner of the crashed Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante, a Brazilian twin-turboprop light transport aircraft, confirmed the accident in a social media statement.

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According to Barcelos mayor Edson Mendes, Civil Defense teams found 14 bodies, which included 12 passengers, the pilot, and the co-pilot.