A plane carrying more than 70 people, including members of the Brazilian football team ‘Chapecoense’, has crashed in Colombia according to authorities.
Medellin international airport has confirmed that the charter aircraft was involved in a serious emergency on its way to the city.
The airport said on its Twitter account that the aircraft had departed from Bolivia. Local media reported that the plane was carrying members of the football team from Brazil - a fact later confirmed by airport authorities.
The team was scheduled to play Copa Sudamerica finals against Atletico Nacional on Wednesday in Medellin. Medellin’s Mayor Federico Gutierrez said that it is possible there are survivors.
“It’s a tragedy of huge proportions,” Gutierrez told Blu Radio on his way to the site in a mountainous area outside the city where the chartered aircraft is believed to have crashed shortly before midnight local time.
He said ambulances and rescuers were on their way. It is not clear what caused the crash although it appeared that the weather was bad in the area.
Chapecoense were on their way to play in the fist leg of Copa Sudamericana final against Colombian side Atlético Nacional.
The match was scheduled to be played in Medellin on November 30, with the second leg back in Brazil on December 7.
The team, based in the city of Chapecó in the state of Santa Catarina, play in Brazil’s top division, Serie A.
The club was founded in 1973 and first won promotion to the top flight in 2014 and have been there since.
As of Monday, when they fell to a 1-0 defeat away at Palmeiras, Chapecoense were ninth in the table after 37 games played in the 2016 season.
The Copa Sudamericana is the continent’s second tier club competition, one rung below the Copa Libertadores.
The winner of the knockout tournament gains automatic entry into next season’s Copa Libertadores.
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