ZCZC
BSP-06
FBL-FRA-ARG-ENG-AVIATION
Footballer Sala’s body arrives in Argentina
PROGRESO, Argentine, Feb 15, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The coffin of footballer
Emiliano Sala, who died in a plane crash between Nantes and Cardiff, arrived
in Argentina on Friday ahead of his funeral in his hometown of Progreso.
The British Airways flight carrying the body landed shortly after 9:00am
(1200 GMT) at Buenos Aires airport. A van waited to drive it for funeral
ceremonies in northeastern Santa Fe, the capital of Santa Fe province, before
it is returned to the family for final rites on Saturday.
“This is a day of historic grief for Progreso. We could never have
imagined this, we are all in a state of shock,” Daniel Ribero, president of
the San Martin de Progreso club, where Sala played for 10 years.
Sala’s body was recovered from the plane wreckage in the English Channel
last week. He was flying to his new team, English Premier League side Cardiff
City, from his old French club Nantes when his plane went missing on January
21.
The 28-year-old died of “head and trunk injuries,” an inquest in England
heard on Monday.
He was traveling in a light aircraft that disappeared near the British
island of Guernsey.
The wreckage was found on the seabed but 59-year-old pilot David Ibbotson
remains missing.
Sala’s former team gave him a rousing send off on Sunday, playing a French
league match in a special all black kit for the occasion, with each player
wearing the Argentine’s name on the back of their jersey rather than their
own.
BSS/AFP/BZC/2000HRS