THE UNION.- Ten years after the club’s plane crash Chapecoenseone of the worst tragedies in world football, survivors of the Brazilian team assured this Friday from the scene of the catastrophe that, apart from the pain, Brazil and Colombia They are united by a “brotherhood forever.”
Representatives of the city club Chapecoin the south of Brazilattended the tribute organized by local authorities in the Colombian municipality of The Union (northwest), to honor the 71 people who died in the incident on the night of November 28, 2016.
Among those attending was the former defender Net Helioone of the six survivors, who at age 41 returned for the third time to the mountain where he almost died.
Between Colombia and Brazil, “after so much pain, a tragedy, a brotherhood is formed that is forever,” Neto told AFP from Cerro Gordoeast of the department of Antioch.
“We have been experiencing great grief for ten years now and we are still here receiving the love that only a brother can provide,” he added.
The accident occurred when the Brazilian team was preparing to land near Medellin to play the first leg final of the South American Cup in view of National Athletic.
At the headquarters of the Colombian team, in Medellín, a mural was presented that shows players from both clubs with the word “Brotherhood.”
And on the hill another was built with photographs of the victims and the inscription “Champions of Heaven.”
Chapecoense players and managers hugged each other to say a prayer in the cemetery, where the Brazilian team inaugurated a monolith that has the names of those who perished engraved.
For Neto, who had to retire from football in 2019 due to the consequences of the accident, the pain and sadness that initially invaded them were transformed into “nostalgia, respect and affection.”
In the vicinity you can still see pieces of the plane’s fuselage and there is a path of white crosses.
“It was an encounter with memory, with those who will never be forgotten and with a history that, even crossing borders, continues to unite Chapecó and Medellín,” the Brazilian team wrote on its X account.
In the midst of the fight to remain in Brazil’s first division, Chapecoense had arrived in Medellín a day earlier to play a friendly match against Atlético Nacional at the stadium on Saturday. Atanasio Girardotone of the events within the framework of the tenth anniversary of the catastrophe.
eternal ties
On the night of November 28, charter flight 2933 of the Bolivian airline Lamia He ran out of fuel and crashed into the mountain.
Since the tragedy, the club, which was going to compete for its first continental final, was never able to return to the front pages of sport.
“I have recorded in my mind the lamentations, the moans, the people asking for help in that despair,” he told AFP. Miguel Ramirez from La Unión.
The farmer and his son Johan, then 16 years old, were among the first improvised rescuers to arrive at the scene of the accident, renamed Chapecó Hill.
Ramírez was in his bean field when the plane, which was carrying mostly journalists, players, members of the coaching staff and Chapecoense workers, crashed.
He heard a roar and ran to the mountain with Johan, later nicknamed the “Angel Boy of Chapecoense” for helping to evacuate the victims thanks to his knowledge of the mountainous and muddy area.
“Many ties were created between Brazil and Colombia. It is something that remains in memory,” he said. German Lopez Rioswho, in his house, near the scene of the accident, built an altar with photos and flags.
“We will not forget that night,” he stated wistfully.
Part of the binational brotherhood has been kept alive thanks to the fans of both teams, since after the tragedy Chapecoense was crowned champion of the Sudamericana at the request of Atlético Nacional.
On Thursday, during the league match between Millionaires and Nationalalmost 40,000 fans cheered the Brazilian team delegation.
No fuel
The official investigation of the accident indicated that on its itinerary the aircraft did not meet the minimum fuel requirement for an international flight.
In December 2016, the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) of Bolivia suspended and definitively withdrew the airline’s air operator certificate.
The Bolivian financial firm BISA stated that LaMia did not have insurance coverage, although it established a fund to assist victims.
A Bolivian air traffic controller was arrested in Brazil in 2021, after being accused of her alleged responsibility in the tragedy by authorizing the flight plan.
However, she was released months later, after her country did not demand her extradition.
