Plane carrying Brazil footballers crashes in Colombia; 72 dead

The world of sport has joined together in mourning after news of the tragic plane crash involving players from Brazilian club Chapecoense.

Three players survived the crash however one died in hospital, the goalkeeper, Marcos Danilo Padilha.

Chapecoense is the 21st biggest club in Brazil in terms of revenue, bringing in 46 million reais ($13.5 million) in 2015, according to an annual rich list compiled by Brazilian bank Itau BBA.

Chapecoense was traveling to play Wednesday against Medellin’s Atletico Nacional team in the finals of the prestigious South America Cup tournament.

The team set to play the ill-fated Chapecoense football team in the final of Copa Sudamericana this week has asked for the opposing team to be awarded the championship posthumously.

Tributes poured in for the footballers from the global soccer world, including celebrities such as Pele, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney.

All soccer on the continent has been suspended until further notice.

Two other players, Jackson Follman and Zampier Neto, journalist Rafael Valmorbida and flight attendant, Ximena Suarez and Erwin Tumiri, are reported to have survived.

“A tragedy that grieves us”.

The BAe 146 plane, en route from Bolivia where the team had a stopover, went down about 10:15 p.m. on Monday night with 69 passengers and a crew of eight on board.

It is not yet known exactly what brought down the aircraft, some unconfirmed reports suggested an electrical fault whereas others have said the plane was low on fuel, both of the plane’s flight recorders have been recovered.

The mountainous terrain is very hard to access, a local official said.

“We are deeply shaken by the accident concerning the club of our old player Cleber Santana”. Among the survivors was a Chapecoense defender named Alan Ruschel, who doctors said suffered spinal injuries.

Elkin Ospina, mayor of La Ceja, near where the crash took place, said the priority was searching for survivors, and scores of rescuers working through the night had been heartened after pulling three passengers alive from the wreckage. The Chapeco, Brazil-based team beat some of the region’s top teams, including Argentina’s San Lorenzo and Independiente, and Colombia’s Junior.

A large part of the tragedy in the plane crash besides the devastating loss of life is that Chapecoense had created an unprecedented success story.