The plane crashed after an apparent near-miss with an executive jet above the Brazilian rainforest as it flew from the river city of Manaus to Brasilia, the capital. It had been due to travel on to Rio de Janeiro. The executive jet, piloted by an American and carrying five passengers, made an emergency landing with no casualties.

At Manaus, where the Boeing 737 had taken off on Friday afternoon, anxious relatives, many in tears, gathered. Others waited for news at the flight’s onward destinations. Sergio Misaci, 47, said his brother Lazaro, 58, had been travelling to Brasilia to celebrate his mother’s 80th birthday.

“The trees there are 200ft high and you can’t see anything,” Misaci said early in the day. “I have all the hope in the world. We have to root for them and have faith in God.”

Then came the news that wreckage had been spotted by air force jets flying low over the densely forested state of Mato Grosso, followed by the announcement after several hours of search that no survivors had been found.

If the deaths of all on board are confirmed, it will be Brazil’s worst aviation disaster.

Gol, the low-cost airline that operated the flight, said there were 149 passengers and six members of crew. It released a list of the passengers but there was no indication of whether they included foreign visitors.

Contact with flight 1907 was lost at 5pm local time on Friday, two hours after take-off. The plane had arrived new from Boeing last month and had flown for just 200 hours. The 737 has an excellent safety record.

There was confusion over the part that may have been played in the disaster by the executive jet, an Embraer Legacy. Its pilot was reported to have said: “I practically did not see the plane. When I saw something it was nothing but a shadow. I felt a shock, which made me lose part of a wing.”

However, radar showed the two planes flying about 1,000ft apart. The federal aviation authorities refused to confirm that the crash and the emergency landing were linked but aviation experts said the 737 may have been taking evasive action.

• In the first round of Brazil’s presidential election today, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the incumbent, is expected to win by far the most votes despite being dogged by corruption scandals and claims of dirty tricks. Analysts predicted that he might have sufficient support to avoid a second round run-off on October 29.

  The president won a landslide four years ago with promises to help the poor and end endemic corruption.

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