BRASILIA, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Up to 200 people were feared dead after a passenger plane with more than 170 people aboard skidded off the runway on landing and hit a fuel storage tank at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport on Tuesday.

    Brazilian airline TAM, owner and operator of the aircraft, said that 176 passengers and crew were aboard the Airbus A320 flying from Porto Alegre in southern Brazil to Sao Paulo when it lost control on landing and skidded off the wet runway.

    Sao Paulo state Governor Jose Serra said rescue crews told him that there were likely no survivors on the plane.

    Brazilian news agency Folha reported up to 200 people were feared dead, including some victims on the ground, while Globo News Television said at least 13 people have been sent to the Alvorada Hospital.

    According to the Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Enterprise (Infraero), the plane skidded across the Washington Luiz Highway before hitting a Shell fuel station and the building that housed TAM's baggage handling unit, causing a huge fire.

    The local fire brigade sent 26 teams to control the flames. More than 20 fire trucks are on the scene battling the blaze, and 16 ambulances are ready to respond near the crash site. Cangonhas Airport was closed to all landings at 6:45 p.m. local time (2145 GMT).

    TAM's press office said that it would release the list of the passenger's names after notifying their families.

    Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had sent the Brazilian Air Force chief Brig. Juniti Saito to Sao Paulo and also called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the crisis with the ministers of defense, institutional affairs and justice.

    The accident happened during heavy rains, and critics have said for years that such an accident was possible at the airport because its runway is too short for large planes landing in rainy weather.

    A federal court in February briefly banned takeoffs and landings of large jets at the airport because of safety concerns at the airport, which handles huge volumes of flights for the massive domestic Brazilian air travel market.

    But an appeals court overruled the ban, saying it was too harsh because it would have severe economic ramifications and that there were not enough safety concerns to prevent the planes from landing at and taking off from the airport.

    Tuesday's crash was Brazil's second major air disaster following a September collision between a Gol airline Boeing 737 and an executive jet over the Amazon rainforest.

    All 154 people on the Gol jet died. The executive jet landed safely.

Urgent: Plane with 174 passengers explodes in Sao Paulo airport  2007-07-18 07:17:11

    RIO DE JANEIRO, July 17 (Xinhua) -- A plane with 174 passengers aboard has exploded in Sao Paulo's Congonhas International Airport, after failing to stop upon landing and skidding into a hanger, Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Enterprise (Infraero) and Brazil's Federal Police said on Tuesday.

    The plane, belonging to local airline TAM, was Flight 5018 from Rio Grande do Sul's state capital of Porto Alegre, in the south ofthe country.

    Witnesses told local media that the airport is closed. The Fire Brigade sent 26 teams to attempt to control the fire started by the accident, which is taking over a main road next to the terminal.

    TAM's press office has not released any statement on the accident or the number of victims.

Urgent: Plane skids, hits hangar in Sao Paulo  2007-07-18 07:07:02