Plane Carrying Brazillian Footballers Crashes, Over 25 Dead

The first division Chapecoense football team was among the 72 passengers and nine crew on board the plane when it crashed around 10:15pm (local time) on Monday after reporting electrical issues.

There were reports of at least six survivors being found before rescue operations were suspended due to heavy rain in the crash site, in a mountainous area near the international airport in the city of Medellin.

“Tonight it was reported that a plane coming from Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, which should have landed at Jose Maria Cordova, airport had gone off course,” a Colombian rescue official, Mauricio Parodi, earlier told reporters.

Authorities and rescuers were immediately activated but poor weather conditions made the crash site only accessible only by road.

“It’s a tragedy of huge proportions,” Medellin’s Mayor Federico Gutierrez Gutierrez told Blu Radio on his way to the site.

The South American soccer federation cancelled all activities until further notice as a result of the crash.

The CONMEBOL federation said in a statement that its president, Alejandro Dominguez, was on his way to Medellin.

The Chapecoense team had been due to face Atletico Nacional of Medellin in the first leg of Wednesday’s Sudamericana final, South America’s equivalent of the Europa League. 

It was the first time the small club from Chapeco had ever reached the final of a major South American club competition but they were underdogs against a club going for a rare double after winning the Copa Libertadores in July.

In a statement on its Facebook page, Chapecoense said “may God accompany our athletes, officials, journalists and other guests traveling with our delegation”.

The team said it would refrain from any further statements until it had fully evaluated the extent of the crash.