Chronicle EditorRIO DE JANEIRO. – The goalkeeper of the Brazilian soccer team aboard a doomed flight to Colombia made a final phone call to his wife before succumbing to his injuries.Marcos Danilo (31) was flying with his Chapecoense teammates when their plane went down near the town of La Ceja in Colombia.
According to reports, the devoted husband and dad of one initially survived the crash and was able to call his wife from a hospital bed. But he later died.
The plane, which was en route to Medellin, Colombia, where the Brazilian squad was to play the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana against Colombian team Atletico Nacional, crashed near the city where they were supposed to land. The plane was carrying 77 people, including members of the Chapecoense team and members of the media, as well as nine crew members. Six people have survived the tragedy.
The six survivors included players Jakson Follmann (24), Helio Hermito Zampier Neto (31), Alan Ruschel (27) as well as journalist Rafael Henzel Valmorbida and crew members Ximena Suárez and Erwin Tumiri.
On Tuesday afternoon, Colombian authorities said four people did not board the fatal flight.
Authorities also recovered the plane’s black boxes Tuesday afternoon. Investigators are still working to figure out the cause of the crash. Aviation authorities said that the plane carrying the team declared an emergency due to an electrical failure before the crash.
The same British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane, operated by a Bolivian charter airline LaMia, was used earlier in the month to carry one of the sport’s most recognisable faces – Lionel Messi and the rest of the Argentina national team. – Reuters.
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