Sala’s body to be flown back home to Argentina
EMILIANO Sala’s body will be flown to his native Argentina this week before a wake takes place at his childhood football club.
The Cardiff City striker’s body is expected to arrive in Buenos Aires tomorrow.
Julio Muller, mayor of the town of Progreso in the Argentinian province of Santa Fe – where Sala grew up – confirmed his remains would be flown to Buenos Aires. The former Nantes player’s body will then be taken to the provincial capital by road on a six-hour journey, reaching Progreso – where his family live – tomorrow night.
A wake will then be held on Saturday at his boyhood club San Martin’s gym.
Mr Muller said Emiliano’s mother Mercedes and sister Romina, who travelled to Wales and Guernsey during the search efforts, have already rejoined Sala’s father Horacio in Progreso.
He said: “Emi’s remains will reach Progreso, 300 miles north of Buenos Aires, late tomorrow. The wake will be organised in the gym at San Martin FC.”
San Martin president Daniel Ribero added: “Emi’s body is going to reach Argentina from Europe tomorrow and on Saturday we will spend several hours saying farewell to him at the club.”
Cardiff City had offered to fly his body home to Argentina last week.
San Martin de Progreso, where the footballer played until he was 15, has already indicated it intends to rename its stadium Estadio Emiliano Sala.
Sala and pilot David Ibbotson were flying in a Piper PA-46 Malibu which vanished from radar on January 21 near the Channel Islands while heading from Nantes to Cardiff. The wreckage of the plane was located almost two weeks later on the seabed of the Channel.
Sala’s body was recovered from the wreckage and formally identified last week. An inquest into his death was told he had died from “head and trunk” injuries.
Mr Ibbotson remains unaccounted for. His family have launched a crowdfunding appeal to continue efforts to “bring him home” and are in talks with David Mearns, the man who located the plane’s wreckage.
The missing pilot’s family have so far raised more than £230,000 via a GoFundMe page to continue search efforts, with donations coming from Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan, Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker and footballers Kylian Mbappe and Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan.