Plane carrying 81 people crashes in Columbia, Brazilian soccer team on board
Brazil’s Chapecoense football team
In a tragic incident, an airplane carrying 81 passengers crashed near municipality of La Union on its way to Medellin’s international airport on Monday.
The plane, among others, was carrying players from a Brazilian soccer team who were on the way to Columbia for a regional tournament final.
The passengers were travelling from Bolivia to flying to José María Córdova International Airport in Rionegro. According to preliminary information, the plane crashed after it ran out of fuel around 10:15 pm local time in Cerro Gordo.
Medellin’s Mayor Federico Gutierrez said that it is possible there are survivors.
“It’s a tragedy of huge proportions,” Gutierrez told Blu Radio on his way to the site in a hilly area outside the city where the chartered aircraft is believed to have crashed shortly before midnight local time.
Gutierrez added that ambulances and rescuers were on their way.
Medellin’s airport confirmed that the aircraft, which departed from Bolivia, was transporting the Chapecoense soccer team from southern Brazil, which was scheduled to play the Copa Sudamerica finals against Atletico Nacional on Wednesday in Medellin.
“Confirmed, the aircraft license number CP2933 was carrying the team @ChapecoenseReal. Apparently there are survivors,” the Jose Maria Cordova de Rionegro airport, which serves Medellin, said on its Twitter account.
Colombia’s Civil Aviation Association said survivors were being moved from the crash site to nearby hospitals.
