Vatican City, Jul 18, 2007 / 11:34 am (CNA).- Upon hearing of the horrific airplane crash in Brazil, Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. sent a telegram to Archbishop Odilo Pedro Scherer of Sao Paolo, Brazil conveying the Holy Father’s condolences.

The crash occurred when a TAM Airlines Airbus A320 was attempting to land in a driving rainstorm at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport. The aircraft struck a building and burst into flames before careening across a multilane highway. The passengers and victims on the ground bring the death toll to more than 200 people.

The text of the telegram is as follows: "The Holy Father, distressed by the hundreds of victims of the air disaster in Sao Paolo, which he visited not long ago, wishes to give his most heartfelt condolences to all their relatives. He gives assurances of his prayers for the dead and invokes the strength and consolation of God for the injured and for all those affected by this tragedy, granting everyone, as a sign of his spiritual closeness, his consoling apostolic blessing."

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