Plane carrying a Brazilian football team crashes in Colombia

     .   The Chapecoense team pictured earlier this month
The charter aircraft was carrying the Chapecoense side from southern Brazil as it headed to Colombia for a cup final.

 An emergency has been declared in Colombia after a plane carrying members of a Brazilian football team crashed with 81 people on board.

 The charter aircraft, carrying 72 passengers and nine crew, is believed to have come down in a mountainous area outside Medellin at about 10.15pm local time.

 Jose Maria Cordova de Rionegro airport, which serves Medellin, said in a statement that "all possible aid was being mobilized because six survivors are being reported".

 Colombia's civil aviation association said rescuers were moving survivors away from the site of the crash.

 A hospital official told reporters there were "many" survivors.

 The plane, which had stopped in Bolivia, had been carrying the Chapecoense football team from the city of Chapeco in southern Brazil.

 It has been confirmed that a defender, 27-year-old Alan Ruschel, has survived.

 Chapecoense celebrate winning their Copa Sudamericana semi-final

 The team celebrates its Copa Sudamericana semi-final win
The side, which entered Brazil's first division in 2014 for the first time since the 1970s, was preparing to play on Wednesday in the first of a two-leg Copa Sudamericana final against Medellin's Atletico Nacional.

 Atletico Nacional has tweeted to express its sympathies.

It is not yet clear what caused the aircraft - a British Aerospace 146 - to come down, but Colombia has been experiencing heavy rain and thunderstorms.

 Medellin airport said that because of the conditions, the crash site could only be reached by land.

 Radar shows the plane was circling before it landed.
                     Chapecoense team player Alan Ruschel

 Chapecoense defender Alan Ruschel has survived the crash
The mayor of Medellin, Federico Gutierrez, said: "It's a regrettable situation.

 "I can confirm that this is the plane where the players were and right now we are following the events.

 "We have the necessary team coming from Medellin - ambulances, medical staff - and the important thing here is to understand that there are survivors and we are saving lives.

 "We are doing all we can in this very regrettable and sad situation."

 The South American football federation has suspended all games following the news from Colombia.

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