Pain is terrible, says Chapecoense VPPain is terrible, says Chapecoense vice-president A plane carrying about 81 people, including a Brazilian football team, has crashed in Colombia, killing over 70 people. The vice-president (VP) of the Brazilian club Chapecoense, whose plane crashed in Colombia yesterday, lamented that the tragedy had struck at the cruellest moment. The plane carrying the Brazilian top-flight football team crashed in the mountains near Medellin, Colombia after “electrical failures” with just five survivors from the 81 people on board.
“The pain is terrible. Just as we had made it, I will not say to the top, but to have national prominence, a tragedy like this happens. It is very difficult, a very great tragedy,” club vice-president Ivan Tozzo told SportTV.
Officials opened the club''s stadium at Chapeco in the state of Santa Caterina in Brazil''s south to console the grieving families and fans.
“We''re all here at the stadium to help the people connected,” said Tozzo.
“It hasn''t really sunk in yet. We have to trust in God. Our team must carry on,” he said.
The team had been due to play the Colombian side Atletico Nacional on Wednesday in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final.
The South American Cup final was suspended after the crash, the region''s football confederation Conmebol announced yesterday.
“All activities of the confederation are suspended until further notice,” Conmebol said.
One of the survivors was Alan Ruschel, a defender for the Chapecoense Real, the head of Colombia''s civil aviation agency, Alfredo Bocanegra, told reporters.
Two other players - Marcos Danilo Padilla and Jackson Follmann - also survived and were taken to area hospitals, along with a flight attendant and a journalist.
“We were able to rescue six people alive, but one of them died on the way to the hospital,” Jose Gerardo Acevedo, a police commander, told reporters.
NAMPA/AFP