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9 dead as van carrying rowing group collides with truck in Brazil

Nine individuals passed away when the van they were traveling in hit a truck in southern Brazil late on Sunday, local authorities said.

Seven of the victims were teenage members of a rowing team from Pelotas, in Rio Grande do Sul state, who were traveling back from a competitors in Sao Paulo when the crash happened in Guaratuba, Parana state.

According to Brazil's federal highway cops, only one of the van's 10 residents - a 17-year-old rower - survived. The truck chauffeur, a 30-year-old-man, had minor injuries, they added.

Police said the truck stopped working to brake and collided with the back of the van, which was thrown forward and crashed into the back of a car driven by a male, who was not hurt.

The van then spun and the truck dragged it off the road, falling on top of it, cops included.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed his condolences on social networks. There are no words that can explain the discomfort of losing a child or grandchild. The discomfort is irreversible, Lula wrote.

(source: Reuters)