Plane with football players crashes in Columbia
posted on Nov 29, 2016 @ 3:01PM
A charter plane carrying 81 people, including 22 players from the Brazilian football club Chapecoense, crashed in Cerro Gordo, Colombia. The team was due to play in the final of the Copa Sudamericana, against Medellin team Atletico Nacional. The first leg of the final of the cup, South America's second most important club competition, was scheduled for Wednesday, but has now been suspended. Police say 76 people were killed, and five survived. One of the dead, survived the crash, but died in hospital. Bad weather is hampering rescue efforts, but an estimated 90 emergency services workers are now at the crash site. The plane was given priority to land but didn’t make the airport, according to Alfredo Bocanegra, the head of Colombia’s civil aviation authority. It lost contact with ground controllers around midnight. Colombian news reports said at least one of the survivors was from the soccer team and had been taken to a hospital, where he was conscious and able to speak.