December 7 – Bolivian authorities have detained the chief executive of the airline involved in the fatal crash last week that killed 71 people, including most of the Brazilian football team, Chapecoense.
The plane, operated by the charter LaMia company, was taking the team to Colombia for the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final when it apparently ran out of fuel near Medellin, wiping out 19 players and staff.
Gustavo Vargas, a retired air force general, has now been detained as part of an investigation into the crash.
In a leaked tape, the pilot, Miguel Quiroga, can be heard warning of a “total electric failure” and “lack of fuel”.
A Bolivian official, Celia Castedo, says she had warned Quiroga that the stretch of the flight between southern Bolivia and Medellin was at the limit of the plane’s maximum capacity. She has now sought asylum in Brazil, saying she is being persecuted.
Bolivian Government Minister Carlos Romero urged the Brazilian authorities to turn her back. “What she has done is very serious,” he said. “It’s a way of escaping the judicial system.”
The plane had been chartered by Chapecoense for the biggest match in the club’s history, against Atletico Nacional. Six people survived the crash one of whom, crew member Erwin Tumuri, said a stop for refuelling in the northern Bolivian city of Cobija had been rejected by the pilot.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1714109072labto1714109072ofdlr1714109072owedi1714109072sni@w1714109072ahsra1714109072w.wer1714109072dna1714109072