Soccer crash survivors treated in Colombia as investigation begins

By Julia Symmes Cobb and Brad Haynes

LA UNION, Colombia/CHAPECO, Brazil (Reuters) - Doctors treated survivors of an air crash in Colombia that killed 71 people and wiped out Brazil's Chapecoense soccer team en route to a cup final in Colombia as an investigation got underway on Wednesday.

Only six people - three players, a journalist and two crew members - survived the crash on Monday night when Chapecoense's charter plane, a BAe 146 made by BAE Systems Plc, hit a mountain en route to their Copa Sudamericana showdown in Medellin.

All were being treated at local hospitals.

Of the players, goalkeeper Jackson Follmann was recovering from the amputation of his right leg, doctors said. Another player, defender Helio Neto, remained in intensive care with severe trauma to his skull, thorax and lungs.

Fellow defender Alan Ruschel had spine surgery.

Investigators from Brazil flew to join Colombian counterparts checking two black boxes from the crash site on a muddy hillside in wooded highlands near the town of La Union.

Colombia's El Tiempo newspaper cited crews from planes approaching Medellin airport on Monday night as saying the pilot of Chapecoense's flight shouted over the radio that he was running out of fuel and needed to make an emergency landing.

Landing priority was given to a plane from airline VivaColombia, which had already reported instrument problems, the paper said.   Continued...