Mountaineers discover football team’s plane wreck that crashed in 1961

Chile: Mountaineers have discovered the remains of a plane that crashed in Chile killing several members of a first-division football team over half-a-century ago.

The incident was one of the world’s major air disasters involving football teams, and killed all 24 people on board, including three referees.

A team of experienced climbers found the crash site in an undisclosed destination 200 miles from the capital Santiago.

Expedition member Leonardo Albornoz said: “The plane is more 10,000ft above sea level. A large part of the fuselage is still intact and a lot of material including human bones are scattered around the wreck.”

Declining to identify the spot where the remains were found, he added: “This story is being rewritten because they’re not where official publications indicated.

“We don’t want this place to be defiled and the remains taken as trophies. You have to remember people died here and their families deserve respect.”

The Douglas DC-3 carrying the Green Cross players went down as they returned to Santiago from an away match in the south.

The team was founded in June 1916 and played in Chile’s first division until its dissolution in March 1965.

Most of the first team players chose to travel in the plane that crashed because the other plane carrying the rest of the players was due to make several stops on its way back to Santiago.