"The worst news": Emiliano Sala's body identified

Dorchester (SID) Argentine professional soccer player Emiliano Sala is dead. The body of the 28-year-old, who crashed in a small plane over the English Channel on January 21, was identified on Thursday evening, the police in the English county of Dorset announced. Sala moved from the French first division club FC Nantes to the Welsh club Cardiff City in the winter, and his disappearance caused great sympathy around the world. On Thursday, the first body was recovered from the wreckage of the plane and brought ashore in Portland Harbor on the south coast of England. According to the British Air Accident Investigation Board (AAIB), the rescue operation was carried out “as dignified as possible”. During the subsequent autopsy, the body was identified as that of Sala, according to police. The families of Sala and the still missing pilot David Ibbotson have been informed about the status of the investigation. "We extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to Emiliano's family. He and David will remain in our thoughts forever," Cardiff City said in a statement late in the evening. The Welsh had signed Sala for a club record fee of around 17 million euros. There was also great sympathy in his homeland. "I'm terribly sorry about this sad news, many of us still had a spark of hope for you, Emiliano," wrote Argentina's football icon Diego Maradona on Instagram. Former striker Gabriel Batistuta expressed great sadness, "this is the worst news. Rest in peace, fighter." This weekend there will be "a minute of applause in all places" in honor of Salas before the kick-off of the matches in the French first and second leagues. The league association announced this on Friday. "We will honor Emiliano together one last time," said league president Nathalie Boy de la Tour: "We remember a player who embodied the joy of life, kindness, generosity and simplicity." FC Nantes, however, decided to no longer give away their previous number 9. “I have no words, this is a tragedy, I am devastated,” club president Waldemar Kita said in a statement. Due to the miserable weather conditions, the plan to recover the aircraft from the bottom of the English Channel was initially abandoned. However, the video footage of the wreck will “provide valuable clues for the investigation,” the AAIB said. An initial report on the crash is expected to be published in February. The small plane was discovered on Sunday after the search, which had initially been suspended, was able to be continued thanks to a large fundraising campaign in which many top players also took part. At this point, a corpse could already be seen on the video recordings from a remote-controlled robot. The plane carrying Sala and the British pilot disappeared from radar on January 21st while flying from Nantes to Cardiff, around 20 kilometers north of the Channel island of Guernsey. Shortly before, Sala had expressed his fear of a catastrophe in a voice message.

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"The worst news": Emiliano Sala's body identified

Argentine professional soccer player Emiliano Sala is dead. The body of the 28-year-old, who crashed in a small plane over the English Channel on January 21, was identified on Thursday evening, the police in the English county of Dorset announced.

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