Chapecoense soccer team crashes on way to title game

Emotional tributes were paid Wednesday to the Brazilian football team Chapecoense Real that was virtually wiped out in a plane crash in the Colombian mountains that killed 71 people.

The plane was carrying the Chapecoense team to Medellín, Colombia, where they were scheduled to take on Atlético Nacional in the first-leg of the Copa Sudamericana final.

The chartered flight killed all but six of the 77 passengers and crew on board, including more than 20 print and broadcast journalists following the team, when it crashed into mountainous terrain close to Medellin’s Jose Maria Cordova airport on Monday night local time.

Officials did not specify what happened to the plane, but the reports said the aircraft ran out of fuel before it crashed.

After the incident, the team published an update on Facebook in which it said players, staff, journalists and guests were among those travelling with the club on the plane.

Colombian aviation officials said an emergency was declared while the plane was flying between the municipalities of La Ceja and La Union. Authorities told CNNe’s Fernando Ramos over the phone that one of those survivors died on the way to the hospital.

In an emotional gesture, Nacional called in a statement for the title to be handed to its Brazilian opponents “as a posthumous homage to the victims of the fatal accident that has put our sport in mourning”. At the time of the crash over 70 passengers, including team members and personnel, were aboard the plane.

“For our part, and forever, Chapecoense are champions of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana”, it said in an emotional statement. They earned promotion through the Brazilian football pyramid in recent seasons before reaching their first ever major final; the biggest match in their 43-year history. “A really sad day for football”.

The South American soccer federation extended its condolences to the entire Chapecoense community and said its president, Alejandro Dominguez, was on his way to Medellin. Local radio said the same aircraft transported Argentina’s national squad for a match earlier this month in Brazil, and had previously transported Venezuela’s national team.

The victor of the final – decided over two legs – would earn a berth in next year’s Copa Libertadores, South America’s top club competition.

The extent of Chapecoense’s loss was confirmed with the news of deaths of players and officials who were on the flight.

News of the crash sent shock waves around the football world, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino offering his condolences as did three-time World Cup victor Pele, while current Brazil global Neymar, the Barcelona forward, said the news was “impossible to believe”.

A Mass is being said this evening at the Chapeco cathedral for the victims of the crash.