A Chapecoense delegation returned to the site of the team’s plane crash in the Colombian city of La Unión as part of a series of events marking the 10th anniversary of the disaster, which killed most of the team’s members in 2016 and had a wide-reaching impact on football. The club’s players visited the memorial at the crash site, which contains photographs and memorabilia commemorating the victims.
Neto takes part in commemorative ceremony
The visit formed part of the club’s programme in Colombia, nearly a decade after the flight carrying the Chapecoense delegation to the city of Medellín. Former defender Neto, one of six survivors among the 77 people on board the plane, took part in the commemorative ceremony.
Neto met Sebastián Osorio again, one of the volunteers who took part in rescuing him after the plane crashed. Neto said the meeting brought back memories of the difficult hours he experienced after the crash, adding that Osorio showed him a photograph documenting the moment he was found and rescued.
Details of the Chapecoense flight disaster
Osorio, for his part, said he was very happy to see the former player again, adding that the meeting brought back many feelings and memories connected to the night of the accident. The disaster occurred on 29 November 2016, as the Chapecoense delegation was travelling to Medellín for the final of the Copa Sudamericana against Colombia’s Atlético Nacional. The accident led to the cancellation of the final that had been scheduled between the two teams.
After the disaster, Chapecoense were declared champions of the competition in honour of the victims. The relationship that developed between the Brazilian club, Atlético Nacional and the Colombian people also became a symbol of solidarity in one of the most consequential tragedies in football history.
The visit’s programme included a friendly between Chapecoense and Atlético Nacional in Medellín, as part of ceremonies commemorating the victims and renewing the ties that have united the two clubs since the 2016 tragedy.
