Local medias have reported that 76 people have died with only 5 survivors saved from the plane crash, a chartered aircraft that crashed with 81 people on board.
Those on board included a Brazilian first division soccer team heading to Colombia for a regional tournament final
The aircraft crashed on its way to Medellin’s international airport.
Aviation authorities earlier said there were at least six survivors. However, Colombian police later reported 76 had died and five survived.
“It’s a tragedy of huge proportions,” Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez told Blu Radio on his way to the site in a mountainous area outside the city where aircraft crashed.
A video published on the team’s Facebook page showed the team readying for the flight earlier Monday in Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos international airport.
A spokesman for the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch said: “As the State of Manufacture of the aircraft, the AAIB is sending a team of inspectors to Colombia to assist with the investigation of the aircraft accident at Medellin.”
Aviation authorities said the aircraft, a British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane operated by a Bolivian charter airline named Lamia, declared an emergency at 10 p.m. Monday (0300 GMT) due to an electrical failure.
The aircraft, which made a stop in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was transporting the first division Chapecoense soccer team from southern Brazil. The team was scheduled to play Wednesday in the first of a two-game Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional of Medellin.
The team was scheduled to play Wednesday in the first of a two-game Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional of Medellin.
Among the five survivors are 3 football players.
The plane was carrying 72 passengers and nine crew members, aviation authorities said in a statement.
Local radio said the same aircraft transported Argentina’s national squad for a match earlier this month in Brazil.