Chapecoense Plane Crash Survivor Dies

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Brazilian journalist Rafael Henzel, who had managed to avoid death in the tragic Chapeocoense plane crash, died last Tuesday of a heart attack.

The 45-year-old communicator collapsed while playing soccer with friends in his city, Chapecó, southern Brazil. He was immediately transferred to a hospital center, where they could not avoid his death, according to various media.

Henzel was one of only six lucky people who managed to get out alive from the accident of the LaMia airline flight that transferred the Chapecoense team to dispute the first leg of the final of the South American Cup with the Colombian club Atlético Nacional de Medellín.

In the incident that occurred on November 28, 2016, 71 people died, including 19 players from the Brazilian club. In addition to the journalist, two crew members and three soccer players were found alive among the remains of the ship that crashed into the hills around Medellín.

El Chapecoense issued a statement regretting the death of the journalist, whom he said was "a symbol of our reconstruction" and recalled that "throughout his brilliant career, Rafael told the story" of the modest club.

Although the case remains open, authorities attributed the accident to the Bolivian company's aircraft running out of fuel due to negligence.

In an interview with the BBC after the tragedy, Henzel said that passengers received no warning that the plane was about to crash on its descent to the Medellín airport. They had heard that the engines had been turned off, but thought they would restart.

“I put on my seat belt and thought the engines would start again in a few minutes. It did not happen,”said the journalist, who after recovering from serious injuries - including the fracture of seven ribs - published the book Live as if every day was the last on the impact of the tragedy on your life.

Henzel, who was married and the father of two children, had planned to cover the match that Chape played on Wednesday against Criciúma for the Brazilian Cup. The club asked the Brazilian federation to postpone the match, but the request was denied.