InstagramThe first words of a football player who survived the horrific plane crash in Colombia yesterday have been revealed by one of his rescuers.
Defender Alan Ruschel asked volunteer rescuer Santiago Campuzano where his friends and family were after they freed the football star from the wreckage of the plane.
Campuzano explained how Mr Ruschel stammered to him: “My family, my friends, where are they?”
PA ImagesMr Campuzano was one of the first responders to the tragic plane crash that killed 71 people yesterday including the majority of the Chapecoense team.
Ruschel is now being treated for his injuries in hospital, The Mirror reports. LaMia Flight 2933 crashed into mountains just 30km from Medellin airport in Colombia.
Recent reports claim the plane crash was caused because the plane didn’t have enough fuel to make the journey, something the pilot only confessed to when it was too late.
PA ImagesEarlier reports had suggested the pilot Miguel Alejandro Quiroga Murakami had dumped the plane’s fuel to prevent an explosion on impact but initial investigations into the crash suggest otherwise.
The flight had been expected to stop at Bogota but for whatever reason this didn’t happen, leading experts to speculate the plane would have been nearly empty by the time it got to Medellin.
Mr Quiroga had allegedly warned the airport he needed to land immediately due to lack of fuel but moments after being given the green light the flight declared a total lack of power and crashed.
PA ImagesWhen the director of LaMira was asked if the plane had crashed due to a lack of fuel he said:
We’re looking into it, we’re waiting for information from the investigation. But if he [the pilot] believed there wasn’t enough fuel, he would have gone to Bogota to refuel.
Bogota Airport, according to the flight plan, was the alternative in any case. Before passing Bogota he would have had to make the decision; if there was enough fuel he should continue, but if anything had happened with the fuel, he should have stopped.
Chapecoense had manged to reach the final of the Sudaamericana after a fairy tale winning streak but unfortunately the Brazilian club’s story has ended in tragedy.
Our thoughts are with the friends and family of all those involved in the horrific crash.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.