Plane crash in Colombia, rescuers combed wreckage for survivors.
Outside a stadium in Brazil, fans who thought they’d be cheering for their favorite soccer team came to mourn.
These were the somber images Tuesday after a deadly plane crash outside Medellin, Colombia.
The Avro RJ85 was en route Monday night from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to Medellin when it crashed near Rionegro, Colombia, with 77 people on board, civil aviation officials said.
At least 71 people were killed, officials said. Six survived.
Players, coaches and invited guests from Brazil’s Chapecoense soccer team were onboard the charter flight. So were more than 20 journalists on the way to cover what was supposed to be a heartwarming chapter in a Cinderella story for a team of unlikely champions.
The soccer club, which has risen the ranks in Brazilian soccer and has a devoted national fan base, was set to play in the first leg of the South American Cup finals Wednesday.
Now hundreds of heartbroken fans have gathered at Arena Conda in the team’s hometown of Chapeco, Brazil.
Fans of Brazil’s soccer team Chapecoense mourn outside the Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco, Brazil.
Authorities are investigating what caused the crash, searching the remote site for victims, survivors and evidence. Chapecoense is sending a seven-person delegation of doctors and legal experts to Colombia. “Only after their arrival will we be able to confirm the facts of this tragedy,” the team said on Twitter.
Rescuers search the wreckage of the charter plane Tuesday in mountains outside Medellin, Columbia.
Rescuers search the wreckage of the charter plane Tuesday in mountains outside Medellin, Columbia.
Investigators found the plane’s so-called black boxes Tuesday afternoon. The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder are in “perfect condition,” Colombia’s civil aviation authority said on Twitter.
‘We are praying for everyone’
At least three soccer players, two crew members and one journalist survived, Colombian authorities said.
Among them: defender Alan Luciano Ruschel.
In an Instagram post, Ruschel’s wife said he was hospitalized in stable condition.
“We are praying for everyone who has not yet been rescued, and for their families,” Amanda Ruschel wrote. “It is a complicated and difficult situation. Only God can give us strength.”
Medical staff members wait for survivors of the plane crash Tuesday at a hospital near Medellin.
The charter flight took off from Bolivia’s Viru Viru International Airport at 6:18 p.m. local time, according to air controller Manuel Palamas.
The plane declared an emergency between the municipalities of La Ceja and La Union, according to Colombian aviation officials. The crash occurred in an area called Cerro El Gordo near Medellin, officials said.
Images of the crash show what appear to be damaged parts of the plane.
A logo of Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense is found at the site of the plane crash.
Leave A Comment