A commuter boat carrying more than 100 passengers has flipped and sunk in north-east Brazil, killing at least 18 people and leaving dozens missing in rough ocean waters.

The pilot of an airliner that burst into flames after trying to land on a short, rain-slicked runway apparently tried to take off again, barely clearing rush-hour traffic on a major highway. The death toll rose today to 189 and could climb higher.

There were no survivors among the 155 people on board the Brazilian jetliner that was in collision with a smaller plane and crashed in the Amazon rainforest in the nation’s worst air disaster.