Brazil's Chapecoense players pose for pictures during their 2016 Copa Sudamericana semifinal second leg football match against Argentina's San Lorenzo held at Arena Conda stadium, in Chapeco, Brazil, on November 23, 2016.
BOGOTA: A plane carrying Brazil's Chapecoense football team has crashed in Colombia. Only six of the 81 passengers have reportedly survived.
Sputnik reported that six people survived the crash, citing José María Córdova International Airport in Rionegro, where the plane was traveling to.
Mi Oriente reported that fatalities had occurred, but did not provide figures.
At least 10 people were initially injured and evacuated from the scene, the commander of La Union fire department said.
A press release from aviation authorities said the plane likely crashed due to electrical failure.
However, a mayor of the municipality of La Ceja, Elkin Ospina, previously said it appeared the aircraft ran out of gas, El Universo reported.
The plane, operated by Venezuelan airline Lamia, was reportedly carrying 72 passengers and nine crew members.
The country's civil aviation authority has set up a unified command post at the airport, El Universo reported.
The mayor of nearby Medellín said the city's hospital network has been alerted and officials from the Administration Department of Disaster Risk Management have been sent to the site.
Access to the crash site can only be reached by land due to current weather conditions, the airport wrote on Twitter.
The team was traveling to compete in the Copa Sudamericana finals. Chapecoense was scheduled to compete against Colombia's Atlético Nacional at 6:45pm local time on Wednesday, at Atanasio Girardot stadium in Medellín.
