Plane carrying soccer team from Brazil crashes
A chartered aircraft with 81 people on board, including a Brazilian first division soccer team heading to Colombia for a regional tournament final, has crashed on its way to Medellin’s international airport.
Aviation authorities said there are reports of at least six survivors, with a local mayor confirming at least three passengers were found alive. The British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane, operated by a charter airline named LaMia, declared an emergency at 10 p.m. Monday because of an electrical failure.
“It’s a tragedy of huge proportions,” Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez told Blu Radio.
The aircraft, which had departed from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was transporting the first division Chapecoense soccer team from southern Brazil. The team was scheduled to play today in the first of a two-game Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional of Medellin.