After confirmation that a Portuguese woman was among the fatalities in Friday’s plane crash in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed condolences to the family and revealed that the victim was Gracinda Marina Castelo da Silva.
“The Government has already presented condolences to the family of Gracinda Marina Castelo da Silva, a Portuguese citizen who died in the plane crash in São Paulo,” read the statement published on the X platform.
The woman, who held dual citizenship, had been living in Brazil for several years, was married for 25 years, and had three children. She was traveling with her husband, a Brazilian citizen named Nélvio José Hubner.
According to CNN Brasil, Gracinda was 47 years old and would have celebrated another birthday on the 27th of this month. She was a pre-candidate for city council in Toledo, Paraná, a city near Cascavel (the flight’s point of origin). She held a doctorate in chemical engineering and worked as a professor at the Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR). UTFPR mourned the tragedy and declared three days of official mourning.
Her husband worked as a municipal attorney in Toledo, and the municipal authorities have already lamented the death of the public servant, described as “exemplary.” The city council also released a note of solidarity.
The plane crash caused the death of all 61 people on board, including 57 passengers and four crew members. The VOEPASS airline aircraft, an ATR-72-500 twin-engine, was flying between Cascavel and São Paulo and crashed around 1:25 PM (5:25 PM Lisbon time).
