Brazilian futbol team, Chapecoense, crashed in an airplane on the way to the Copa Sudamerica final.

Chapecoense had climbed up the ladder of Brazilian soccer and was set to culminate their season in the final match of the international competition, but the plane on which the team was travelling crashed over the mountains in Medellin, Colombia. It is being reported that the plane called in an emergency on Monday night, complaining of an electrical failure. At the time of the crash over 70 passengers, including team members and personnel, were aboard the plane. Six people survived the crash: a journalist flying with the team, two flight crew members and three Chapecoense players. The rest were either found dead or presumed dead.

A large part of the tragedy in the plane crash besides the devastating loss of life is that Chapecoense had created an unprecedented success story. The team from the small industrial village in southern Brazil was going to make the home town proud. Many of the players on the team would have received lucrative offers from larger clubs that would have ameliorated the lives of their loved ones.

“This is a relatively small city, so everyone knows somebody who was on the plane,” said Roberto Panarotto, a 44 year old media studies professor in Chapecó, the town from which Chapecoense hails. Panaratto said that one of the presumed fatalities in the crash, a member of the coaching staff, was one of his childhood friends.