Colombia plane crash: Brazilian football team wiped out after switching flights
UP TO 75 people have died in a plane crash carrying Brazilian football team Chapecoense to the South American championship finals in Colombia.
By ZOE EFSTATHIOU, WILL KIRBY AND ALIX CULBERTSON
Express.co.uk
Tue, Nov 29, 2016
Six people survived the horror crash in northeastern Colombia, the country’s police force has said.
Members of the Brazilian football team Chapecoense were onboard as they flew from Bolivia to José María Córdova International Airport in Rionegro, Medellin for the Copa Sudamerica finals against Atletico Nacional tomorrow.
The flight, run by Venezuelan company LaMia, was carrying 72 passengers and nine crew members when it crashed at 10.15pm local time on Monday – five minutes from landing – in the El Gordo mountains close to the city of Medellin, Colombia’s second largest city.
Local reports said the footballers were forced to board the Lamia plane after Brazilian aviation authorities prevented them from taking a charter flight to Medellin.
Brazilian President Michel Temer has declared three days of mourning in Brazil because of the “tragedy” which has affected “dozens of families”.
He tweeted: “In this sad hour when the tragedy reaches dozens of Brazilian families, I express my solidarity to them.”
The President added the Government will use “all means” to “help the relatives” of the victims.
The mayor of Chapeco in southern Brazil, where the football team is based, has declared 30 days of mourning for the city.
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