Head of airline arrested after fatal crash probe

BOLIVIAN officials arrested the head of LAMIA Airlines on Tuesday after a crash involving one of the charter firm’s planes which killed a Brazilian football team and dozens of others, including journalists.

Gustavo Vargas, director-general of the Bolivian charter firm, was arrested as part of a probe into the November 29 crash which claimed the lives of 71 people, including all but a handful of players from Chapecoense Real football club.

“There was an arrest order for the director of the company,” said prosecutor Ivan Quintanilla, who told reporters he had issued arrest orders for six people in connection with the crash, including a secretary and a mechanic at the airline.

LAMIA Airlines is a Bolivian-registered charter company that specializes in flying Latin American football clubs.

Chapecoense had been enjoying a fairytale season until the crash, and at the time of the accident were en route to a championship game which they were tipped to win.

The flight crashed into the Colombian mountains not far from the city of Medellin. Of 77 people onboard, 71 were killed.

Meanwhile, officials said a senior Bolivian aviation official who authorised the flight, Celia Castedo, had fled the country and was seeking asylum in Brazil.

Chapecoense were on their way to play Atletico Nacional of Medellin in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final at the time of last week’s crash.

Investigators from Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia are currently looking into what caused the crash, but officials have said one theory is that the plane ran out of fuel during the flight. — AFP