A passenger plane carrying more than 80 people, including members of the Brazilian football team Chapecoense, has crashed in Colombia
Reports say there were six survivors, including the Chapecoense goalkeeper, Alan Ruschel, and police fear 75 are dead. There were 72 passengers, including the team and travelling journalists, and nine crew on board.
Chapecoense were scheduled to play a Copa Sudamerica finals match against Atlético Nacional on Wednesday in Medellin.
José Maria Córdova international airport in Medellin has confirmed that a charter aircraft with squad members and journalists on board was involved in a serious emergency on its way to the city.
The plane – a British Aerospace 146 short-haul aircraft – is believed to have started its journey in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at 3.35pm local time. It made a stop in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a bustling economic hub in eastern Bolivia, later that day before setting off for Colombia.
The statement from José Maria Córdova airport said that at 10pm a plane travelling from Santa Cruz had declared an emergency because of electrical failures between the municipalities of La Ceja and La Unión in Colombia.
