Brazil Football Team In Colombia Plane Crash

A plane carrying 72 people, including a Brazilian football team, has crashed on its approach to the city of Medellin in Colombia, officials say.

BBC News report continues:
It is not yet clear if there are any survivors.

The chartered plane, flying from Bolivia, was carrying members of the Chapocoense football team, airport officials said.

The team was due to play the final of the South American club cup with Medellin team Atletico Nacional.

Plane With Brazilian Soccer Team Crashes In Colombia

Associated Press reports that a chartered aircraft with 72 people on board, including players from a Brazilian soccer team heading to Colombia for a regional tournament final, has crashed on its way to Medellin's international airport.

Medellin's Mayor Federico Gutierrez said Tuesday 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 on Monday local time.

He said ambulances and rescuers were on their way. It is not clear what caused the crash of the aircraft, a British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane, but Colombia had been hit by heavy rains and thunderstorms in recent hours.

Medellin's airport confirmed that the aircraft, which made a stop in Bolivia, was transporting the first division Chapecoense soccer team from southern Brazil. The team was scheduled to play Wednesday in the first of a two-game Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional of Medellin.

A video published on the team's Facebook page showed the team readying for the flight earlier Monday in Sao Paulo's Guarulhos international airport.

The team, from the small city of Chapeco, joined Brazil's first division in 2014 for the first time since the 1970s and made it to the Copa Sudamericana finals last week by defeating Argentina's legendary San Lorenzo squad.