Their job was saving lives. They lost their own in Brazil’s horrifying plane crash

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Arianne Risso worked every day to help her patients battle cancer. That made it all the more heart wrenching when her life — along with that of seven other doctors — ended abruptly after a plane tumbled from the sky in Brazil.

She boarded the ill-fated flight Friday in the city of Cascavel, in Parana state, bound for Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos international airport. It crashed in the city of Vinhedo, and footage of the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop plunging while in a flat spin horrified people across Brazil.

It smashed into the backyard of a home inside a gated community and transformed into a fiery wreck. All 62 people aboard were killed, among them the eight doctors, according to a statement from Parana’s Medical Council. Risso and at least one colleague were headed for an oncology conference to sharpen their knowledge about a disease that kills tens of thousands of Brazilians every year.

“They were people used to saving lives, and now they lost theirs in such tragic circumstances,” Parana Gov. Ratinho Júnior told journalists in Vinhedo on Friday, adding that he had friends on the doomed plane. “It is a sad day.”

Risso's cousin, Stephany Albuquerque, recalled in a phone interview that the two often played together when she was young. Even then, Risso wanted to become a doctor and, as she grew older, applied herself so intensively to her studies that she rarely went out on the town. Medicine was her calling.

“Arianne treated people who were terminally ill at a time in their lives when they were struggling. But Arianne was always available and did everything with a lot of love,” Albuquerque told The Associated Press by phone from Florida, where she now lives. “She wasn’t the kind of doctor who would the tell the patient, ‘This is your illness, take this.’ No, Arianne took care of people. ... She would give out her personal phone number to patients.”

Risso, 34, was flying with her colleague Mariana Belim, 31. The two had been in residencies at Cascavel’s cancer hospital, and a statement from the institution praised them for the conscientiousness, care and respect with which they treated their patients.

“It’s no wonder that praise for them both would often reach us. Their love of the profession was very clear,” the hospital said.

Willian Rodrigo Feistler, a general practitioner who grew up in Cascavel, knew six people who died in the crash and was particularly close to Belim, with whom he studied and had maintained a 15-year friendship.

“Mariana was serene with a melancholic temperament, but very intelligent, empathetic and devoted to her profession,” Feistler said by phone from Cascavel. “She dedicated much of her life to studies and medical training. She had already specialized in clinical medicine and was completing her specialization in clinical oncology.”

José Roberto Leonel Ferreira, a recently retired doctor who also died in the fiery wreck, was one of Feistler’s teachers during his undergraduate studies. He had a radiology clinic in Cascavel.

"I went over cases with him on several occasions. He was a receptive person who helped other doctors in the discussion of cases to reach diagnoses,” Feistler said.

Brazil’s Federal Council of Medicine said the loss of the doctors left Brazil’s medical world in mourning, and expressed its solidarity for the victims' friends and relatives. They were venturing forth from Cascavel in search of knowledge as a means to better treat their patients, its statement said.

For now, there are more questions about the crash than answers. Metsul, one of Brazil’s most respected meteorological companies, said Friday that there were reports of severe icing in Sao Paulo state around the time of the crash. Local media cited experts pointing to that as a potential cause, although others cautioned against jumping to a conclusion.

Both the plane’s “black boxes” — one with flight data and the other with cockpit audio — were recovered. The air force’s center for the investigation and prevention of air accidents began analyzing them at its laboratory in the nation's capital, Brasilia. Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho said the center was also opening a criminal probe. The airline Voepass and the French-Italian ATR manufacturer are assisting investigations, they said in statements.

All of Brazil — but in particular victims' loved ones — are eager to learn why these people were ripped from this world.

“It wasn’t God who took my daughter; it wasn't God, because he chose her to save lives,” Risso’s mother, Fatima Albuquerque, told reporters Sunday. She said she blamed the crash on profit-hungry capitalists and authorities' neglect.

Stephany Albuquerque echoed her indignation.

“I only hope that the prosecutors will investigate,” she said. "I hope justice is done, because that’s the least my cousin and the other 61 people deserve.”

The coffin of Danilo Santos Romano, 35, is taken to his burial site at Penha Cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. Romano was the pilot of the plane that crashed into the backyard of a home in the city of Vinhedo on Aug. 9. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

A hearse arrives at Penha Cemetery where Danilo Santos Romano will be buried in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. Romano was the pilot of the plane that crashed into the backyard of a home in the city of Vinhedo on Aug. 9. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

People arrive for the burial of Danilo Santos Romano at Penha Cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. Romano was the pilot of the plane that crashed into the backyard of a home in the city of Vinhedo on Aug. 9. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Police patrol the street leading to the gated community where a plane crashed in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Brigadier Marcelo Moreno, head of the National Air Accident Investigation Center, gives a press conference about the Vinhedo plane crash, at his headquarters in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Police vehicles used to carry bodies leave at the gated community where a plane crashed in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Workers carry empty coffins into the morgue where the bodies of plane crash victims were brought in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. The flight crashed into the backyard of a home in the city of Vinhedo on Aug. 9. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Police guard the gated community where a plane crashed in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Firefighters and rescue teams work at the site in a residential area where an airplane with 61 people on board crashed the previous day in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

A worker carries an empty coffin into the morgue where the bodies of plane crash victims were brought in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. The flight crashed into the backyard of a home in the city of Vinhedo on Aug. 9. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

The debris at the site where an airplane crashed with 61 people on board, in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, early on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. Brazilian authorities are working to piece together what exactly caused the plane crash in Sao Paulo state the previous day, killing all 61 people aboard. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Locator map showing the departure, destination and crash sites of a Brazilian commercial airplane that crashed on Friday Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Digital Embed)

Relatives from victims of the plane crash arrives at the headquarters of the institute of legal medicine for the recognition of victims, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini)

A military fire truck used to carry bodies leave at the gated community where a plane crashed in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Firefighters and rescue teams work at the site in a residential area where an airplane with 61 people on board crashed the previous day in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

The debris at the site where an airplane crashed with 61 people on board, in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, early on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. Brazilian authorities are working to piece together what exactly caused the plane crash in Sao Paulo state the previous day, killing all 61 people aboard. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Police stand along the street leading to the gated community where a plane crashed in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

This frame grab from video shows wreckage from a plane that crashed by a home in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (Felipe Magalhaes Filho via AP)

Their job was saving lives. They lost their own in Brazil’s horrifying plane crash

Their job was saving lives. They lost their own in Brazil’s horrifying plane crash

This frame grab from video shows fire coming from a plane that crashed by a home in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (Felipe Magalhaes Filho via AP)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Jake Sanderson scored 15 seconds into overtime and the Ottawa Senators stretched their win streak to six games with a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.

It’s the first time since March 2017 that Ottawa has won six in a row.

Shane Pinto scored twice for the Senators, Claude Giroux added a goal and Josh Norris scored short-handed. Sanderson also contributed a pair of assists.

Leevi Merilainen stopped 21 shots to earn his first NHL victory.

Brock Boeser scored twice for the Canucks, and Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists. Jake DeBrusk rounded out the scoring for a Vancouver side that lost its third straight outing (0-1-2). Kevin Lankinen made 17 saves.

Canucks: The team has lost four of its last five outings and some of its top stars have gone cold offensively. J.T. Miller has not scored in the six games he’s played since returning from a 10-game absence, Elias Pettersson does not have a point in his last six outings and Conor Garland last recorded a goal on Nov. 29.

Senators: Merilainen stepped in for Linus Ullmark, who has been a superstar for Ottawa in recent weeks. Heading into Saturday, Ullmark had powered the team to five straight victories after backup Anton Forsberg went down with an injury during a pre-game skate on Dec. 14.

Boeser knotted the score at 4 with 4:50 left in the game when he blasted a rebound past Merilainen.

Hughes now has 40 points on the season (eight goals, 32 assists). He is the seventh defenseman in NHL history to hit the mark in 33 or fewer games in multiple seasons.

The Senators visit the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, and the Canucks host the San Jose Sharks on Monday.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Ottawa Senators' Jake Sanderson (85) scores on Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko (35) during overtime of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators goaltender Leevi Merilainen (1) stops the puck against the Vancouver Canucks during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Brock Boeser, right, celebrates his goal against the Ottawa Senators with Quinn Hughes (43) during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators' Jake Sanderson (85) celebrates his game-winning goal with Brady Tkachuk (7) after overtime of an NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)