weekly news

The Guardian: "Colombia plane crash: 71 dead and 6 survivors on flight carrying Chapecoense football team."

A plane carrying a Brazilian first division football team crashed near Medellin while they were on their way to the finals of a regional tournament against Atletico Nacional. The crash killed 71 people and 6 managed to survive. The plane departed from Santa Cruz and the airline declared an emergency as they lost radar contact due to an electrical failure just before 10pm on Monday (0300 GMT).

"What was supposed to be a celebration has turned into a tragedy" - Medellin mayor, Federico Gutierrez. The club said in a brief message on it's Facebook page that "may God accompany our athletes, officials, journalists and the guests travelling with our delegation".

Dozens of rescuers worked through the night were glad to have pulled out the remaining survivors although they were severely hurt. However, there was heavy rainfall and low visibility made it complicated to reach the crash in the mountains. Among the survivors there were 2 goal keepers, Marcos Danilo and Jackson Follman, a member of the teams delegation and a flight attendant. Unfortunately, Marcos Danilo died a short time later.

One of the other members killed was Tiago de Rocha Viera. A week before the crash, a video was posted online where he found out his wife, Graziele, was pregnant with their first child.

"This morning I said goodbye to them and they told me they were going after the dream, turning that dream into reality" said a board member of the team.

This is such a tragic story and it almost has me speechless and definitely in tears. This unfortunate event has left friends, family and fans in mourning. Atletico has called for Chapecoense to win the Copa Sudamericana.