An award-winning Brazilian television news anchor has died as a helicopter carrying him crashed on one of Sao Paulo’s main highways.
TV Band said Ricardo Boechat was returning from a university in the city of Campinas when the helicopter crashed on to a truck. Police confirmed the pilot also died.
Boechat, 66, anchored TV Band’s main nightly news, as well as hosting a radio programme and writing a column for IstoE magazine.
He was also a frequent mediator of presidential debates for his network.
Mr Boechat won three of Brazil’s most prestigious journalism awards for his reports on corruption, and was noted for poking fun at politicians across the political spectrum.
Police Captain Augusto Paiva said the truck driver suffered minor injuries.
“The helicopter tried to land in an access road close to a toll station. But then the truck came and they crashed. The fire occurred because of the collision,” Capt Paiva said.
President Jair Bolsonaro, a frequent target of Mr Boechat’s criticism, expressed his condolences on Twitter.
Mr Boechat left six children.
