Thousands of soccer fans in the Brazilian city of Chapeco filled the Chapecoense stadium on Thursday (November 30) in a moving vigil to the victims of the deadly Colombia plane crash which virtually wiped out the entire soccer team.
With the stadium bathed in the club’s green and white colours, some 10,000 fans were joined by friends and family of the soccer players killed in the tragedy.
In union, the stadium sang out the names of the players killed and shouted “champions”.
It was a bitter twist to a fairy-tale story for Chapecoense. Since 2009, the team rose from Brazil’s fourth to top division and was about to play the biggest match in its history in the first leg of the regional cup final in Medellin.
“I have no words, I live and breathe Chapecoense. Breathe Chapecoense, it was something that still to this day I can’t believe,” said team mascot, Clayton do Mazola.
The plane crashed into a Colombian mountain after it reportedly ran out of fuel, had no electrical power, and was preparing for an emergency landing, according to the pilot’s final words.
The disaster on Monday (November 28) night killed 71 people and sent shock waves round the global soccer world.
Only six on board the LAMIA Bolivia charter flight survived, including three of the Chapecoense soccer squad en route to the biggest game in their history: the Copa Sudamericana final.
“I have a lot of pain and I don’t have a lot of words. Today was supposed to be a day for all of us to celebrate, a celebration, to motivate the team, but unfortunately, we are here in this homage which is the least we can do,” said fan, Emerson.
Of the players, goalkeeper Jackson Follmann was recovering from the amputation of his right leg, doctors said.
Another player, defender Helio Neto, remained in intensive care with severe trauma to his skull, thorax and lungs.
An homage was also planned on Wednesday (November 30) in Colombia at the stadium in Medellin of Atletico Nacional, which had been due to play Chapecoense in the regional final in the evening.
The Colombian team wants the trophy to be given to Chapecoense in honor of the dead.
