This is the emotional moment three Brazilian footballers who survived a devastating plane crash that killed 19 of their team mates returned to the scene of the disaster.

Chapecoense goalkeeper Jackson Follmann, who lost part of his leg in the accident, and players Helio Zampier Neto and Alan Ruschel were among six team members who survived the crash on 28 November last year, on a hillside near Medellin international airport in Colombia.

The club’s first team were on a charter flight travelling to play the first leg of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana final against Atlético Nacional, a match that was seen as the biggest in the history of the club, when their plane ran out of gas and crashed.

Last night, the three players returned to the still-scarred hillside where a Brazilian flag, flowers and a makeshift shrine have been left in memory of the 77 passengers and crew who were killed. An oxygen mask from the stricken plane has also been left at the crash site.

Goalkeeper Follmann was helped by rescuers as he made his way to the shrine.

A makeshift altar full of crosses and flowers stood where the plane’s fuselage broke into two a short distance from Medellin’s airport, killing all but six of those aboard.

‘I had to see this for myself to know what happened,’ Follmann said, standing in heavy rainfall that provided a somber tone to the visit. ‘It was a miracle of God.’

Later, residents of nearby La Union filled the small town’s plaza for a heartfelt tribute to the team, providing the survivors with flowers and even some personal objects salvaged from the crash site.

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Daily Mail

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