RIO DE JANEIRO – A small plane crashed Saturday in a rural area outside the western Brazilian city of Caceres, in Mato Grosso state, killing all three people on board, police said.

The victims included the former president of the Mato Grosso state legislature, Antonio Carlos Lopes do Amaral, who was piloting the aircraft.

The plane crashed at a ranch located some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from downtown Caceres, a city near the border with Bolivia and 220 kilometers (135 miles) from Cuiaba, the state capital.

Torrential rains were falling in the area at the time the plane went down, police spokespersons in Mato Grosso said.