A chartered plane carrying Brazilian football team Chapecoense crashed in Colombia on Monday night. The plane was travelling to Medillin's international airport and has 81 people onboard, 72 passengers and 9 crew members. Authorities say that 75 people were killed in the crash and that only 6 people survived.
According to aviation authorities, the British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane declared an emergency at 10 pm local time on Monday due to electrical failure. The charter plane is operated by charter airline LaMia.
The chartered plane, which had departed from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, crashed in a hill in La Union in the Antioquia region, just 22 miles from the airport. Authorities quickly responded to the crash site. After searching through the night, rescuers initially found six survivors.
But after the hours passed, bad weather and poor visibility hampered the rescue operation as helicopters were grounded and rescuers having a difficult time to reach the mountainside crash site. The rescue operation has by then turned into a body recovery operation.
The Brazilian football team Chapecoense was travelling from Southern Brazil. The team was scheduled to play in the first leg of a two game Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional of Medillin. The final match was scheduled to be played on Wednesday.
"What was supposed to be a celebration has turned into a tragedy," Medellin mayor Federico Gutierrez said.
Chapocoense later released a statement in their Facebook page saying: "May God accompany our athletes, officials, journalists and other guests traveling with our delegation."
All federation activities including the Copa Sudamericana final have been suspended until further notice according to a statement released by CONMEBOL, the governing body of South American football.
Those who survived the crash according to the Colombian National Air Guard are Chapoceonse players Jackson Follman (goal keeper), Alan Ruschel (defender), Helio Hermito Zampier Neto (striker), Bolivian flight attendant Ximena Suarez, flight crew member Erwin Tumiri and journalist Rafael Henzel Valmorbida. Another survivor, Chapocoense goal keeper Marcos Danilo, died later in the hospital after being rescued.
The same aircraft had previously transported Argentina's national team as well as Venezuela's national team.
