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76 feared dead after plane carrying Brazilian football team crashes in Colombia 75 feared dead after plane carrying Brazilian football team crashes in Colombia
(about 5 hours later)
A plane carrying Brazil's Chapecoense football team has crashed in Colombia. Conflicting reports have stated that between five and six of the 81 people on board have survived. A plane carrying Brazil’s Chapecoense football team has crashed in Colombia en route to the biggest match in the team’s history, killing up to 75 of the 81 people on board. Three days of national mourning have been declared.
Police director General José Acevedo Ossa has said 75 people died in the crash, and six survived. He added that the search has been suspended because there are no more survivors at the site. “This wasn’t just a group of people who respected each other professionally. It was a family, a group of friends,” club President Plínio David de Nes Filho, who was supposed to travel with the team before changing his plans, told an interviewer on Brazilian television.
A civil aviation official also said a high death toll from the crash is “undeniable,” stating that there are six confirmed survivors. “Everybody laughed so much, even in defeat... There was a great atmosphere, great joy. Yesterday morning, when I said goodbye to them, they said that they were going off to make our dreams come true. We shared this dream with all our emotion. And in the early hours of this morning, that dream came to an end,” he said.
Alan Ruschel, a defender for Chapecoense, is reportedly among the survivors and has arrived at a nearby hospital, according to 360 Radio Colombia. He was taken to radiology in stable condition. The team had been traveling from its hometown of Chapeco, in the southern state of Santa Catarina, to Medellin in Colombia. It was due to play the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana continental tournament against local side Atletico Nacional on Wednesday.
Telemundo Deportes tweeted that Ruschel was in shock but was conscious and speaking, and that he asked to keep his wedding ring and speak to his family.  After a layover in Bolivia, the chartered 1999-built British Aerospace 146 aircraft set off for Colombia, but reported electrical problems at about 10pm local time on Monday night as it was nearing its destination. Authorities are also investigating reports that the plane – operated by LaMia Airlines, a Venezuelan-Bolivian company – had run out of fuel before reaching the airport. There have also been local reports that the pilot may have dumped fuel on purpose seconds before the crash, preventing a massive explosion.
Goalkeepers Marcos Danilo and Jakson Follmann have also reportedly survived, along with physiologist Rafael Gobbato, reporter Rafael Henzel, and flight attendant Jimena Suárez. The plane crashed on a hillside outside Medellin. Photos from the site show that most of the tail and body of the plane were completely destroyed as the aircraft split in two.
However, Reuters cited police as saying that 76 people were killed in the crash, which would mean that only five survived. A downpour and low visibility complicated the rescue operation, as helicopters were dispatched to the inaccessible location, but then had to be grounded. Survivors had to be carried by foot on stretchers, then loaded on to trucks that made their way through the slippery mud to the ambulances, as temperatures remained at 5 degrees Centigrade.
Citing conflicting media reports regarding the number of fatalities, the football team said on its Facebook page that it is awaiting an official statement from Colombian aviation authorities. At least seven passengers were found alive at the crash site, though one has since died in hospital.
The mayor of nearby Medellín, Federico Gutierrez, traveled to the crash site. He called the incident a "tragedy of huge proportions" and noted that the site was difficult to access. “The possibility that other people will be found alive has not been ruled out,” said a statement from Colombia's disaster risk management agency.
According to José Córdova International Airport, which was scheduled to receive the plane, the crash site can only be reached by land due to current weather conditions. An air force helicopter was forced to turn back due to low visibility, AP reported. Four footballers were among those pulled out of the wreckage, along with two crewmembers and a journalist, but Marcos Danilo Padilha, the team's starting goalkeeper, died from his injuries.
A press release from aviation authorities said the chartered aircraft declared an emergency at 10pm local time on Monday (0300 GMT) due to an electrical failure. “The government will do everything possible to alleviate the pain,” said a tweet from Brazilian President Michel Temer.
However, Elkin Ospina, the mayor of the nearby town of La Ceja, previously said it appeared the aircraft ran out of gas, El Universo reported. Chapeco, a city of only 200,000 that is most famous for its food processing industry, will be scarred by the sudden demise of its Cinderella team, which rose from the fourth to the top division in less than a decade, thanks to savvy management.
The plane, operated by Venezuelan airline Lamia, was reportedly carrying 72 passengers and nine crew members when it crashed in a mountainous area outside Medellín. Hundreds of supporters gathered for an early-morning vigil outside the club's stadium, Arena Conda, singing together to commemorate the team.
"The plane broke in two and the situation is complex," Ospina said, as quoted by Noticias RCN.
The secretary of security of Medellín also said the aircraft had been split into two parts.  Reaching the final of the continent's second most-prestigious club tournament was by far the biggest achievement in the club's history, and many players had tweeted photos of their journey to the game in anticipation.
The country's civil aviation authority has set up a unified command post at the airport, El Universo reported.  “We’re starting the journey to Colombia! We’re starting the journey to Colombia!” Filipe Machado says to the camera, as his teammates cheer and mug for the camera, in one of the last videos of the team together. Machado was not on the survivors' list.
Gutierrez said officials from the Administration Department of Disaster Risk Management were sent to the site. COMNEBOL, South America's ruling football body, has now suspended the Copa Sudamericana and other activities until further notice. Brazilian media have reported that Atletico Nacional has conceded the title to Chapecoense, whose players will be honored as champions posthumously.
The aircraft had originated in southern Brazil but made a stop in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, before traveling towards its destination in Colombia. The same plane had previously transported the national teams of Argentina and Venezuela, according to local radio.
The team was traveling to compete in the Copa Sudamericana finals. Chapecoense was scheduled to compete against Colombia's Atlético Nacional at 6:45pm local time on Wednesday, at Atanasio Girardot stadium in Medellín.
The team from the small city of Chapeco joined Brazil's first division in 2014, for the first time since the 1970s. It made it to the Copa Sudamericana finals last week, after defeating Argentina's San Lorenzo squad.
A video posted online before take-off showed the team at the airport, prior to boarding the plane. 
After learning of the crash, the South American football confederation CONMEBOL announced that "the activities of the confederation are suspended until further notice."
The confederation's president, Alejandro Dominguez, is on his way to Medellín.