Palmas Football and Regatas Club Players and President Die in Plane Crash

The president and four football players from Palmas Football and Regatas, a fourth division club of the Brazilian Championship located in the capital of the state of Tocantins, died this Sunday after the plane carrying them to Goiania for a match crashed. The pilot of the aircraft also died in the collision.

The rented airplane crashed for still unknown reasons shortly after taking off from Porto Nacional, a municipality in the Amazonian state of Tocantins, at around 8:15 local time (11:15 GMT) this Sunday.

The plane was heading to Goiania, about 800 km (500 miles) away, where Palmas was supposed to play against Vila Nova on Monday in the round of 16 of the Copa Verde, a tournament played among teams from the North and Midwest regions of Brazil.

According to the condolences note posted by Palmas club on social media, besides the president of the club, Lucas Meira, the football players Lucas Praxedes, Guilherme Noé, Ranule, and Marcus Molinari, as well as the aircraft pilot identified as Commander Wagner also died in the accident.

The Palmas FR family mourns the immeasurable loss of president Lucas Meira, athletes Guilherme Noé, Lucas Praxedes, Marcus Molinares Reis, Ranule Gomes, and Commander Wagner. We appreciate the expressions of support and affection in this moment of grief. pic.twitter.com/Lnakg8OC41

— Palmas Futebol (@PalmasFutebol) January 24, 2021

"We regret to inform that there are no survivors. In this moment of pain and dismay, the club asks for prayers for the families, to whom it will provide the necessary support," the club said in a statement.

Regarding this accident, Vila Nova Club's management also released a statement expressing their sorrow for what happened and stated that, in addition to accepting the indefinite postponement of the match, they will pay tribute to the victims of the accident in their next commitment.

Despite being a relatively unknown club in Brazil, founded in 1977 in the city of Palmas, they have won the regional championship of the state seven times and in 2004 surprised by reaching the quarterfinals of the Copa do Brasil.

This tragedy reminded many of the plane crash that caused the death of most of the squad of the Brazilian club Chapecoense.

The accident occurred on November 28, 2016 when the plane carrying the team to Medellin to compete in the final of the Copa Sudamericana crashed 17 kilometers from the airport of the Colombian city.

This Sunday, Chapecoense expressed their sadness for the plane crash that was carrying the Palmas team. "With deep sadness, we received the news of the plane crash that carried players and the president of Palmas. Unfortunately, we know how this moment of insurmountable pain is due to irreparable losses, and we would like no one else to go through something like this," the club wrote on Twitter. (D)