Brazil plane crash: ex-CEO of mining giant Vale, Roger Agnelli among seven dead

The 56-year-old Agnelli headed Vale for a decade ending in 2011. (File/AP Photo)

A small plane has crashed in northern Sao Paulo, killing seven people including the former chief executive officer of Brazilian mining giant Vale and his family.

The website of Brazil’s leading O Globo news network said a pilot and six passengers, including ex-Vale CEO Roger Agnelli, his wife and two children, were on board the plane when it crashed Saturday. All seven people died.

O Globo, citing city and fire officials, reported that the plane had just taken off from an airport in northern Sao Paulo when it crashed on a house.

Firefighters try to extinguish a fire where a small airplane crashed into the house in Sao Paulo, Brazil, March 19, 2016. (Reuters)

One person on the ground was injured. No cause has been given for the accident.

The 56-year-old Agnelli headed Vale for a decade ending in 2011.