Seventy-six people were killed in a plane crash near Medellín, Colombia, on Monday night. The plane was carrying 22 members of the Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense, which was on its way to a finals match of the Copa Sudamerica. Twenty-one sports journalists are among those dead. From the Guardian:
Initial reports said there were six survivors, including players and a travelling journalist, but police said one person had died in hospital. The plane was carrying 72 passengers and nine crew members.
… The Brazilian president, Michel Temer, declared three days of national mourning and offered his condolences to the friends and families of those on the plane in a series of tweets.
“I express my solidarity at this sad time when dozens of Brazilian families have been affected by tragedy,” he wrote.
“We are offering every form of help and assistance that we can to the families. The air force and foreign ministry have been put to work. The government will do everything possible to relieve the pain of these friends and families of Brazilian sport and journalism.”
The cause of the crash is still unknown, though the New York Times reports that “authorities said the plane had reported electrical problems as it flew near the towns of La Ceja and La Unión, in mountainous stretches around Medellín.” It continued:
The Colombian station Blu Radio, citing an interview it conducted with Alfredo Bocanegra, Colombia’s civil aviation director, said the plane had declared an emergency as it approached Medellín. The plane was given priority to land before air traffic controllers lost contact with it.
According to the BBC, Chapecoense’s finals match in the Copa against Atlético Mineiro was set to be “the biggest in the history of the relatively small club, which entered Brazil’s top division for the first time in 2014. In the wake of the crash, the South American Football Confederation has announced the suspension of “all activities.”
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