Following
the tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of many Brazilian
footballers and other passengers, a politician and journalist have
relieved how they escaped death.
The scene of the crash
Many talented Brazilian footballers and many others lost their lives in a tragic plane crash which occurred in Colombia.
According to CNN, four people who were due to board the plane that
crashed, killing 71 people in Colombia, have now revealed how
last-minute changes stopped them from getting on the flight.
The Lamia 2933 flight, carrying Brazilian football team
Chapecoense, crashed late Monday near Medellin. Six of the 77 people on
board survived.
Gelson Merisio, a state legislator for Santa Catarina and an ardent
fan of the Brazilian club, planned to travel with the players to watch
them take on Atletico Nacional in the first leg of their Copa
Sudamericana final.
Merisio, 50, had been looking forward to the game only to switch his plans late on because of work commitments.
“I want to be clear, that while I was scheduled to fly on the
plane with the team, I opted not to do it due to work obligations this
week,” he wrote in a statement on Facebook.
Later, after the severity of the crash became evident, he paid tribute to those who lost their lives.
Just three players, Jackson Ragnar Follmann, Alan Ruschel and Helio
Hermito Zampier Neto, survived the crash. Three others, two crew
members and a reporter also survived.
Doctors in Medellin amputated Follmann’s right leg and he is
currently in the hospital’s intensive care unit, according to Juan David
Arteaga, the Undersecretary of Social Protection for the state of
Antioquia.
Arteaga says Neto is under observation following multiple surgeries and Alan Ruschel is in the ICU.
Another of those who was originally supposed to be on the plane was
journalist Ivan Agnoletto. He said he gave up his seat for colleague
Gelson Galliotto, who had always dreamed of covering such a huge game.
“The pain is still too much for me to think about if God would’ve saved me,” Agnoletto told Globo. “I was scheduled to cover the game, but my colleague had a huge dream to cover an international final.
“When I told Gelson Galiotto the news that he could go in my
place, he could not believe it: ‘Really? I’m really going?’ It was his
dream.”
Agnoletto said he did not hear about the crash until his wife began
to receive a barrage of calls with people offering their condolences.
“It was as if I was dead,” he added. “I went to the TV and saw the plane had crashed.”
The mayor of Chapeco, Luciano Buligon, and the president of the
club’s board, Plinio David de Nes Filho, were also on the passenger list
but missed the flight to attend a meeting in Sao Paulo.
“Only God can explain these things, and how I stayed behind,” Buligon told Globo. “It is the biggest tragedy Chapeco could go through. We lived a moment of ecstasy with our football club.”
Meanwhile, supporters of Chapecoense have held an emotional vigil
for the victims of the crash in which almost all the team’s players
and officials died.
Thousands of fans gathered at the Arena Conda Stadium in Chapeco
and held lights up in the darkness in tribute to the 71 victims.
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