A Colombia plane crash of a Brazilian professional soccer team early Tuesday killed 76 people. There were only a few survivors.
Five people reportedly survived the crash of the chartered jet carrying the Chapecoense soccer team, reported NBC News.
Chapecoense, which plays in Brazilian's top soccer division, was traveling from Santa Cruz in Bolivia to Medellin's international airport.
Rescue operations were suspended at one point because of heavy rain in the crash area. Poor weather conditions were reported in the area earlier.
"Six people were rescued alive, but unfortunately one died," said Gen. Jose Acevedo, the head of police in the mountainous area where the jet crashed.
The Guardian said there were unconfirmed reports that the Chapecoense's goalkeeper Danilo Padilha died in hospital after surviving the crash. The player was listed as one of six survivors by the Colombia's civil aviation authority.
"There were lifelong friends on this flight ... and we think it will have been very hard for them to have survived this accident," Plínio David de Nês Filho, president of Chapecoense's board, told the Brazilian breakfast news show Bom Dia Brasil, adding that he was supposed to had been on the flight.
Ximena Suárez, a flight attendant, and Erwin Tumiri, a flight technician, survived and were taken to the Somer clinic in Rionegro, reported The Guardian, citing a civil aviation authority release.
Alan Luciano Ruschel and goalkeepers Jackson Ragnar Follmann were hospitalized along with journalist Rafael Hensel.
NBC News said Chapecoense was in ninth place in its 20-team league with last game of the season coming up. The club brought in $13.5 million in revenue in 2015, according to an annual rich list compiled by the Itau BBA bank.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.