A private plane crash in Brazil killed the pilot and his family

Ten family members died after a private plane crashed in the city of Gramado in southern Brazil.

Brazilian businessman Luiz Claudio Galeazzi, who was piloting the plane, died in the crash along with his wife, three daughters and other family members, his company said in a statement.

The small plane reportedly hit the building's chimney, as well as a house and shop when it fell.

Local authorities say 17 people were injured in the crash, including two in critical condition.

Mr Galeazzi, 61, was taking his family on a trip to Jundiaí, in the state of São Paulo, according to Brazilian media reports.

All 10 victims of the accident were members of Mr Galeazzi's family, Rio Grande do Sul state governor Eduardo Leite told a press conference. He went on to say that the plane took off under bad weather.

The plane reportedly flew 3km (1.8 miles) before it crashed in the city just minutes after take off on Sunday morning.

“At that time, it was waking up. You could see that it was going very fast,” said an eyewitness, Nadia Hansen, to Reuters news agency.

“Then there was a gunshot from the building and it passed near my house and fell, I thought it fell in front of the house,” he said.

Pictures from the scene show emergency workers tending to the rubble of badly damaged buildings.

Mr. Galeazzi was the CEO of Galeazzi & Associados, a restructuring and crisis management firm based in São Paulo.

The company released a statement on LinkedIn, honoring the 61-year-old.

“Luiz Galeazzi will forever be remembered for his dedication to his family and his extraordinary work as the leader of Galeazzi & Associados,” the statement said.

“We sympathize with all those affected by this accident in this region,” he said, adding that he would cooperate with the investigation into the accident.

The plane crashed near the center of Gramado, hitting a house, a furniture store and a hotel, according to Brazilian media.

The governor of the state Mr. Leite said the cause of the accident is being investigated by the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa).

“The whole state is gathered here to provide the necessary assistance,” he told reporters at the scene.

Gramado is a popular tourist destination, known for hosting events during the holidays.

The region was hit hard in May this year due to unprecedented floods, which claimed many lives and displaced around 150,000 people from their homes.