Three days of national mourning have been declared in Brazil after a plane crash in Colombia killed 76 people, including almost the entire Chapecoense football team.
Lamia Bolivia flight LMI2933 plunged to the ground in central Colombia late on Monday night local time after it rapidly descended and flew in circles.
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Plane carrying Brazilian soccer team crashes
The Brazilian Chapecoense football club was on board a flight which crashed near Medellin, Colombian. Vision: Nine News
Six people were pulled from the wreckage alive, but one died in hospital.
Many of the 81 people on the plane were players or support staff for Brazil's Chapecoense football club. Also on board were 21 journalists set to write about the team, and 9 of the plane's crew.
The club were on their way to Medellin in central Colombia, where they were due to play in the prestigious Copa Sudamericana Cup against Colombian rivals Atletico Nacional on Wednesday.
It was the first time the small club from Chapeco had reached the final of a major South American club competition.
Elated players departed from Bolivia's Viru Viru Airport and were within 50 kilometres of their destination when the plane began to descend and fly in circles.
The plane disappeared from the radar around 10pm local time (2pm AEDT) and the wreckage was found several hours later near the small Colombian town of La Unión.
Footage from aviation site FlightRadar 24 showed the plane flying in circles and losing altitude before disappearing south of Rionegro.
Local media described the aircraft as being completely destroyed and almost unrecognisable. Initial reports suggested the plane may have suffered an electrical error or been low on fuel.
A photographer at the scene said dozens of bodies were laid out and covered with sheets around the wreckage as police and military personnel searched the crash site.
Bad weather hampered rescue efforts, with the search temporarily called off due to heavy rain. The bodies were expected to be removed at first light.
Players Alan Luciano Ruschel, Marcos Danilo Padilha and Jakson Ragnar Follmann managed to survive the impact, Colombia's disaster management agency said in a statement.
Ruschel, 27, reportedly remained conscious after the accident and was able to talk to his rescuers.
Photographs from nearby La Ceja, where many of the survivors were taken to hospital, showed Ruschel on a hospital bed as doctors rushed to treat him.
The crash has significantly affected football fans in South America and around the world.
On Tuesday morning, local time, Brazil's president Michel Temer decreed the country would have three days of national mourning for the victims of the crash.
South American football federation CONMEBOL announced all games and other activities will be suspended "until further notice".
Atletico Nacional, the team due to face Chapecoense, were one of the first to express their sadness on social media following the accident.
"Nacional deeply laments and stands in solidarity with Chapecoense in the accident and we await information from authorities," the club wrote on Twitter.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino also took to Twitter to write: "At this difficult time our thoughts are with the victims, their families and friends."
International clubs including Arsenal and Barcelona also sent messages of support for the club, its players and fans.
The British air crash investigation agency, Air Accidents Investigation Branch, has sent a team to assist Colombian authorities with the investigation.
Its team of three investigators, expected to arrive on Wednesday, are automatically involved as the downed plane was manufactured in Britain.
AP, Reuters