BRAZILIAN soccer team Chapecoense was on board a plane carrying 81 people that crashed in Colombia killing 76 people, police said yesterday.

    Chapecoense, from Brazil’s top league, had been flying in to face Atletico Nacional of Medellin in the first leg of today’s Sudamericana final, South America’s equivalent of the Europa League.

    “Six people were rescued alive, but unfortunately one died. The rest of the occupants unfortunately died. The tragic toll is 76 victims,” Jose Gerardo Acevedo, regional police commander, told journalists.

    The club said in a statement that it would not be making any official comments until it had more information from Colombian authorities about Monday night’s crash.

    The club confirmed later the death of goalkeeper Danilo who initially survived the crash.

    Flight tracking service Flightradar24 said on Twitter the last tracking signal from flight 2933 had been received when it was at 15,500 feet (around 4,725 meters), about 30 km from its destination, which sits at an altitude of 7,000 feet.

    The Avro RJ85 was produced by a company that is now part of U.K.’s BAE Systems.

    Local radio said the same aircraft transported Argentina’s national squad for a match earlier this month in Brazil, and previously had transported Venezuela’s national team.

    The charter flight was carrying 72 passengers and nine crew, when it crashed around 10:15 p.m. Monday. Heavy rain first hampered and then halted rescue operations. Officials told local media that bodies would be removed once the sun rose.

    Brazilian news organizations reported 21 journalists had been on board.

    Alfredo Bocanegra, the head of Colombia’s aviation authority, said initial reports suggest the aircraft was suffering electrical problems although investigators were also looking into an account from one of the survivors that the plane had run out of fuel about five minutes from its expected landing at Jose Maria Cordova airport outside Medellin.

    Brazilian TV channels Globonews and SporTV identified the surviving players as defender Alan Ruschel and reserve goalkeeper Jakson Follmann, which was not immediately confirmed.

    It was the first time the small club from Chapeco had reached the final of a major South American club competition, but they were underdogs against a club going for a rare double after winning the Copa Libertadores in July.

    Chapecoense was the 21st biggest club in Brazil in terms of revenue, bringing in 46 million reais (US$13.5 million) in 2015, according to an annual rich list compiled by Brazilian bank Itau BBA.

    The South American football federation suspended all games and other activities following the crash.(SD-Agencies)

    (Past soccer air disasters on P5)