Pain is terrible, says Chapecoense vice-president Ivan Tozzo
This file photo taken on October 21, 2015 shows Brazil's Chapecoense defender Neto celebrating after his team scored a goal against Argentina's River Plate during their Copa Sudamericana 2015 quarter-finals first leg match at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A plane carrying 81 people, including members of a Brazilian football team, crashed late on November 28, 2016 near the Colombian city of Medellin, officials said. Neto was among the survivors. PHOTO | EITAN ABRAMOVICH |
What you need to know:
- The plane carrying the Brazilian top-flight football team crashed in the mountains near Medellin, Colombia after "electrical failures" with just five survivors from the 81 people on board.
RIO DE JANEIRO
The vice-president of the Brazilian club Chapecoense, whose plane crashed in Colombia on Tuesday, lamented that the tragedy had struck at the cruellest moment.
The plane carrying the Brazilian top-flight football team crashed in the mountains near Medellin, Colombia after "electrical failures" with just five survivors from the 81 people on board.
"The pain is terrible. Just as we had made it, I will not say to the top, but to have national prominence, a tragedy like this happens. It is very difficult, a very great tragedy," club vice-president Ivan Tozzo told SportTV.
Officials opened the club's stadium at Chapeco in the state of Santa Caterina in Brazil's south to console the grieving families and fans.
"We're all here at the stadium to help the people connected," said Tozzo.
"It hasn't really sunk in yet. We have to trust in God. Our team must carry on," he said.
The team had been due to play the Colombian side Atletico Nacional on Wednesday in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final.
