VATICAN CITY, JULY 18, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI expressed his condolences for the many victims of the deadliest plane crash in Brazil's history.
Reports today already confirmed 189 dead after Tuesday’s tragedy at São Paulo's Congonhas International Airport.
The pilot of TAM Airlines Airbus-320 apparently tried to take off again after a failed landing due to a rain-slicked runway. But the plane crashed into a gas station and building, and burst into flames.
Benedict XVI sent his condolences in a telegram to Archbishop Odilo Pedro Scherer of São Paulo, through Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
The telegram read: "The Holy Father, distressed by the hundreds of victims of the air disaster in São Paulo, which he visited not long ago, wishes to give his most heartfelt condolences to all their relatives.
"He gives assurances of his prayers for the dead and invokes the strength and consolation of God for the injured and for all those affected by this tragedy, granting everyone, as a sign of his spiritual closeness, his consoling apostolic blessing."
ZE07071809 - 2007-07-18