Plane carrying Brazilian club football team crashes in Colombia, 76 dead

Three Chapecoense players have been named among the five survivors of a plane crash in central Colombia on Tuesday.

"Six people were rescued alive, but unfortunately one died. The tragic toll is 76 victims," Jose Gerardo Acevedo, regional police commander, told journalists.

The country's civil aviation association said rescuers were moving survivors from the site, but that poor weather conditions had made the crash site accessible only by road.

Rescue teams, from firefighters to disaster management officials, had been pressed into action, added Parodi, the director of disaster management for the province of Antioquia.

Chapecoense, from Brazil's top league Serie A, had been travelling to face Atletico Nacional of Medellin in the first leg of Wednesday's Sudamericana final - South America’s equivalent of the Europa League. Their charter aircraft was en route from Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to Jose Maria Cordova in Medellin when it ran into trouble.

“It was reported that the plane had gone off course,” a Colombian rescue official, Mauricio Parodi, told reporters.

Brazilian news organisations reported that 21 journalists had also been on board.

Three players named among survivors

TV channels Globonews and SporTV identified the players who had escaped the wreckage as defender Alan Ruschel, goalkeeper Danilo and reserve goalkeeper Jakson Follmann. It was not immediately possible to confirm the information.

UPDATE: A plane carrying a Brazilian soccer squad and its support team crashed in Colombia: https://t.co/dt7u0Fte4y https://t.co/SKXGIAizCR

— 7 News Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) November 29, 2016

First major final for Chapecoense

The Chapecoense football team were due to contest a major South American club final for the first time, against Atletico Nacional on Wednesday.

The small club from Chapeco were underdogs against a club going for a rare double after winning the Copa Libertadores in July. Chapecoense were the 21st biggest club in Brazil in terms of revenue in 2015, bringing in $13.5 million, according to an annual rich list compiled by Brazilian bank Itau BBA.

[caption id="attachment_37099" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Rescuers search for survivors from the wreckage of the LAMIA airlines charter plane carrying members of the Chapecoense Real football team that crashed in the mountains of Cerro Gordo, municipality of La Union, on November 29, 2016 AFP[/caption] [caption id="attachment_37101" align="aligncenter" width="800"] A police officer stands next to the body of a victim of the LAMIA airlines charter plane crash in the mountains of Cerro Gordo, municipality of La Union, on November 29, 2016 AFP[/caption]

South American football association halts all matches

The South American football federation suspended all matches and other activities early on Tuesday following the crash. CONMEBOL said its president, Alejandro Dominguez, was on his way to Medellin, near the crash site. "All federation activities are suspended until further notice," it said in a statement on its website. [caption id="attachment_37104" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Rescuers search for survivors from the wreckage of the LAMIA airlines charter plane carrying members of the Chapecoense Real football team that crashed in the mountains of Cerro Gordo, municipality of La Union, on November 29, 2016 AFP[/caption] [caption id="attachment_37055" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Brazilian football player Alan Luciano Ruschel of Chapecoense soccer club receives medical attention after a plane crash in Antioquia, central Colombia November 29, 2016 REUTERS[/caption] Rescue efforts halted due to heavy rain Rescue operations at the crash site in central Colombia were suspended in the early hours of Tuesday morning due to ppor weather conditions, Medellin airport said. "Search and rescue of the crashed Chapecoense plane is suspended because of heavy rain in the accident area," the airport said on Twitter. [caption id="attachment_37105" align="aligncenter" width="800"] A rescuer walks past the body of a victim from the LAMIA airlines charter plane crash in the mountains of Cerro Gordo, municipality of La Union, on November 29, 2016 AFP[/caption]

"It seems the plane split in to three parts" says South American football expert @Tim_Vickery #Colombia plane crash https://t.co/MqhzBnedfM — Sky News (@SkyNews) November 29, 2016