Body identified as Sala

LONDON: A body retrieved from the wreckage of a crashed plane in the English Channel has been formally identified as Cardiff City’s Argentinaborn player Emiliano Sala, British police said yesterday.

Sala (28) had been flying from his previous club, Nantes, in western France to Wales on January 21 to make his debut for the English Premier League team when the singleengined Piper Malibu aircraft disappeared over the sea.

Wreckage was found on Monday during a privately funded underwater search and a body recovered on Thursday and taken to southern England.

‘‘The body brought to Portland Port today . . . has been formally identified by HM Coroner for Dorset as that of professional footballer Emiliano Sala,’’ the police statement said.

‘‘The families of Mr Sala and the pilot, David Ibbotson, have been updated with this news and will continue to be supported by specially trained family liaison officers. Our thoughts remain with them at this diffi cult time.’’

Sala had agreed to join relegationthreatened Cardiff for a clubrecord fee of £15 million ($NZ28.8 million) from French Ligue 1 club Nantes.

Police said an investigation into the circumstances of the death was continuing.

The plane had been cruising at 5000 feet when the pilot requested to descend to a lower altitude on passing Guernsey. It then lost radar contact at 2300 feet.

Argentine newspaper Clarin last month published a voice message Sala apparently sent to friends while in the air.

‘‘We’re up in the plane and it seems it’s about to crash,’’ said the message, which Clarin said was verified by Sala’s father, Horacio Sala.

‘‘If you have not heard anything from me in an hour and ahalf, I don’t know if they’re going to send someone to find me, because, you know, they’re not going to be able to,’’ the message said.

‘‘Dad. I’m really scared.’’ — Reuters