Preparations underway and Chapeco airport to receive Brazilian crash victims' bodies

Record ID: 75205

  • Title: Preparations underway and Chapeco airport to receive Brazilian crash victims' bodies
  • Date: 2nd December 2016
  • Summary: CHAPECO, BRAZIL (DECEMBER 2, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TROOPS AT AIRPORT IN CHAPECO CITY HOLDING RED CARPETS FOR THE CEREMONY TROOPS AND MEMBERS OF THE ARMY'S MUSICAL BAND ARRIVING WITH THEIR INSTRUMENTS TROOPS OUTSIDE BUS TROOPS WAITING TO LEAVE AIRPORT GELSON MERISIO, PRESIDENT OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SANTA CATARINA SPEAKING TO MEDIA SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) GELSON MERISIO, PRESIDENT OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF SANTA CATARINA, SAYING: "We have not stopped since Monday morning. We continue with the same adrenaline and the same involvement like all who suffer. We are working to be ready to handle all the bodies, we will be thinking about this all on Sunday after all this uproar the city is suffering passes. We now have to build an atmosphere so that families suffer as little as possible." VARIOUS OF TRUCKS WHERE COFFINS WILL BE CARRIED WITH COLOURS AND SHIELDS OF THE CHAPECOENSE CLUB (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) AMBASSADOR OF BARCELONA FOOTBALL CLUB, JULIANO BELLETTI, SAYING: "In the name of the Barca I came here to hear what can be done to help, more than offering something, firstly you must listen to see what can be done, what kind of help the Barca can try to contribute. Help and solidarity with the world is incredible, it is wonderful, we are here to try to help in some way. " ARENA CONDA STADIUM IN CHAPECO WHERE MEMORIAL WILL BE HELD FOR VICTIMS VARIOUS OF FLOWERS AT STADIUM TO BE USED FOR MEMORIAL SERVICE
  • Embargoed: 17th December 2016 23:08
  • Keywords: Chapeco accident victims airport Chapecoense soccer
  • Location: CHAPECO, BRAZIL
  • City: CHAPECO, BRAZIL
  • Country: Brazil
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015B70PJB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Preparations were underway on Friday (December 3) at the Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco for a wake for those killed when a plane flying Brazil's Chapecoense football team crashed into a central Colombian mountain.
    A convoy carrying the 64 dead Brazilians left the funeral home in Medellin beginning around noon on Friday. The coffins are scheduled to arrive early on Saturday (December 3) morning for funeral services in Chapeco, the club's small farming hometown in southern Brazil.
    Members of the army's musical band were seen arriving at the stadium carrying their instruments.
    The disaster on Monday night killed 71 people and shocked football fans the world over. The LAMIA Bolivia BAe146 airliner apparently ran out of fuel, lost electrical power and was preparing for an emergency landing when it crashed.
    Only six people survived, including three members of the soccer squad en route to the Copa Sudamericana final, the biggest game in its history.
    The tragedy plunged Latin America's largest nation, Brazil, into mourning as it reels from a deep recession and political crisis.
    Gelson Merisio, president of the Legislative Assembly of Santa Catarina, said they would continue to tend to the families of the victims.
    "We have not stopped since Monday morning. We continue with the same adrenaline and the same involvement like all who suffer. We are working to be ready to handle all the bodies, we will be thinking about this all on Sunday after all this uproar the city is suffering passes. We now have to build an atmosphere so that families suffer as little as possible," Merisio said.
    Temporary structures in the team's stadium will shelter the coffins of players, staff and journalists for an open-air wake.
    Dozens helped to cut out carpets with the green colours of the beloved team and hang up banners with the club's logo.
    An Ambassador of Barcelona Football Club, Juliano Belletti, travelled to see how the club could help.
    "In the name of the Barca I came here to hear what can be done to help, more than offering something, firstly you must listen to see what can be done, what kind of help the Barca can try to contribute. Help and solidarity with the world is incredible, it is wonderful, we are here to try to help in some way," Belletti said.
    Some 100,000 fans, about half the city's population, are likely to attend, as is Gianni Infantino, president of world football governing body FIFA. Brazilian President Michel Temer was due to fly to Chapeco on Saturday morning.
    The mood in Chapeco was subdued on Friday as some schools resumed classes, but city hall remained officially in mourning. Dozens of fans continued a vigil at the Chapecoense stadium as an impromptu shrine continued to swell with fresh flowers and handmade posters.
    Among surviving players, goalkeeper Jackson Follmann's right leg was amputated, while defender Alan Ruschel had spinal surgery. Fellow defender Helio Neto was in intensive care with severe trauma to his skull, thorax and lungs.
    Neto's father told Brazilian media that doctors said his son would be able to play football again.
    Two members of the Bolivian flight crew, Ximena Suarez and Erwin Tumiri, were bruised but not in critical condition, while journalist Rafael Valmorbida was treated in intensive care for multiple rib fractures that partly collapsed a lung. Tumiri may soon be released, local media reported.
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