Plane crash claims 4 Brazilian players

Four soccer players from Brazilian club Palmas died in a plane crash while travelling separately from the team after testing positive for the coronavirus, the club said.

The club's president also died in the crash after the plane suddenly plunged to the ground at the end of the runway while on takeoff in the northern state of Tocantins, the team reported. The pilot also died.

The players were on their way to Goiania, in the central region of the country, to play a match against Vila Nova.

The players were travelling in a private plane because they had tested positive for COVID-19, club spokesperson Izabela Martins told The AP.

Martins said that Sunday would have been their last day of isolation and that the rest of the team would travel on a commercial flight.

The victims were identified as president Lucas Meira and players Lucas Praxedes, Guilherme Noé, Ranule and Marcus Molinari, the club said. The pilot was not identified. There were no survivors.