BRASILIA, Feb 8: Rescue workers recovered 24 bodies on Sunday from the bottom of a river in the Amazon jungle after a plane crashed in bad weather, airline officials and rescue workers said.

Divers pulled the bodies out of the wreckage in the murky waters of the Manacapuru river some 100km southwest of Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state.

“In total there were 28 people on board, including eight small children and two crew members,” a spokesman for regional charter airline Manaus Aero Taxi told Reuters.

Four people survived the crash. The plane hit the crown of a tree before plunging into the river.

One passenger managed to open a door before the plane sank and escaped with three others, Rocha said.

One of the four survivors told local media that one of the plane’s engines failed during flight.—Reuters