Brazilian Justice Minister Tarso Genro said Wednesday that police will take part in the probe of the most deadly plane crash in the country's history.
Genro told reporters that the involvement of police is a precautionary measure proposed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to ensure full investigation.
The official said the probe will focus on the runway rather than management at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport.
Rescue workers have managed to recover one of the plane's black boxes. Officials said it will be sent to the United States for analysis.
Up to 200 people were feared dead after an Airbus-320 owned by Brazil's TAM airline skidded off the runway on landing Tuesday, hitting a fuel storage tank at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport.
TAM said that 176 passengers and crew were aboard the plane, which was flying from Porto Alegre in southern Brazil to Sao Paulo. Security authorities said early Wednesday that they had found 40 bodies, and Sao Paulo state Governor Jose Serra said rescue crews told him that there were no likely survivors on the plane.
