Colombia: Brazilian football team plane crashes in Colombia, killing 76+ passengers.

Colombia: Brazilian football team plane crashes in Colombia, killing 76+ passengers

A Plane carrying 81 people, most belonging to Brazilian football team Chapecoense, crashed just after midnight in central Colombia on its way to the international airport near Medellín.

Photo Source: Twitter

A charter plane carrying 81 people, including players from a rising Brazilian soccer team headed for a championship match, has crashed en route to Medillin’s airport in Colombia, according to authorities. Five passengers survived and the rest were killed, the Associated Press reported, citing Colombian police. It was uncertain whether that was a final count, however, as the figures had fluctuated during the night.

General José Acevedo, commander of Medellín police, confirmed to a Colombian radio station that 75 people had been killed and six others had been injured and rescued from the scene. One of the rescued passengers died on the way to the hospital, Acevedo said.

Medellin’s mayor, Federico Gutierrez, called it “a tragedy of huge proportions.”

"Six people were rescued alive, but unfortunately one died. The rest of the occupants unfortunately died. The tragic toll is 76 victims," Jose Gerardo Acevedo, regional police commander, told journalists.

The club said in a statement that it would not be making any official comments until it had more information from Colombian authorities about Monday night's crash. Brazilian media reported that three players were among the survivors.

Flight tracking service Flightradar24 said on Twitter the last tracking signal from flight 2933 had been received when it was at 15,500 feet, about 30 km from its destination, which sits at an altitude of 7,000 feet.

In a statement on its Facebook page, Chapecoense said "may God accompany our athletes, officials, journalists and other guests traveling with our delegation."

The team said it would refrain from any further statements until it had fully evaluated the extent of the crash.

The team, from the small city of Chapeco, joined Brazil's first division in 2014 for the first time since the 1970s and made it to the Copa Sudamericana finals last week by defeating Argentina's legendary San Lorenzo squad.

The CONMEBOL federation said in a statement that 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.