Rain and Emotion at the Arrival of Chapecoense Casualties

12/05/2016 - 11h37

The original intention was to receive the soccer team as champions. Instead, the residents of Chapecó (SC) saw the players of their beloved team enter the stadium in coffins.

The city embraced the trajectory of Chapecoense, the team that rose from the fourth to the first division of Brazilian soccer in five years.

The team suddenly found itself in the world's spotlight as it became a victim of the biggest tragedy in Brazilian sport to date.

The team was going to Colombia in a charter flight to dispute the first match of the South American Cup finals - the plane crashed killing 71 people on Tuesday morning, November 29, including 19 Chapecoense players, 24 members of the team's delegation and 20 journalists.

Two members of the crew, three players and a journalist survived.

On Saturday, December 3, under strong rain after several sunny days, Chapecó, a city in the west of Santa Catarina state, received the coffins of 51 victims of the plane crash, with thousands of local residents bidding their last farewell in the streets and at the airport.

Fans cried nonstop as they witnessed the loss that had made the city come to a stop since the beginning of the week.

With the wake at Arena Condá stadium the tragedy seemed to have ended. The coffins were carried by military troops and fans chanted "the champion is back" as they were brought to the field.

The coach of Brazil's national soccer team, Tite, also attended the event.

The team was expecting 100,000 people to attend the wake, but the rain discouraged some of the fans, who had been to the stadium several times before the event to pay homage, making it a memorial decorated with flowers and hundreds of posters.

The stadium, which can hold up to 19,000 people, was not entirely full.

"It is our last goodbye," said teacher Mara Ecco, 56, who was wearing a jersey autographed by goalkeeper Danilo. "They were our dear friends, our neighbors."

At the end of the ceremony, the victims' families circled the soccer field once, holding up pictures and jerseys of the players, bringing tears to the eyes of the fans.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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