Plane with Brazilian football team crashes in Colombia

COLOMBIA - A plane with members of Brazil's Chapecoense Real football team crashed on Monday near the Colombian city of Medellin, officials said.

"Confirmed, the aircraft license number CP2933 was carrying the team @ChapecoenseReal. Apparently there are survivors," the Jose Maria Cordova de Rionegro airport, which serves Medellin, said on its Twitter account.

https://twitter.com/flightradar24/status/803472806885421056

According to local news LAMIA Airlines flight RJ85, which was carrying 72 passengers and 9 crew, reported an emergency mid-flight before disappearing.

The flight was transporting the Brazilian side Chapecoense to Medellin airport when it disappeared off radar, according to reports.

A video shared on Twitter claimed to show the moment the plane disappeared from view on flight radar.



“It’s a tragedy of huge proportions,” Medellin’s Mayor Federico Gutierrez said 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.

https://twitter.com/AndresFelipe/status/803464610686889988

He said ambulances and rescuers were on their way. It is not clear what caused the crash although it appears that the crash took place due to the bad weather.

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 30 November, with the second leg back in Brazil on 7 December.