Argentinian footballer Emiliano Sala was buried almost four weeks after the crash with a private machine over the English Channel in his home town of Progreso. At the coffin with the remains of the 28-year-old, many people laid flowers, letters and pictures during the public funeral.
"Emi was one of us, he meant a lot to us," said Daniel Ribero, president of Sala's home club San Martin de Progreso. "We are just a small community and Emi was a real celebrity and we were all very proud of him." More than 3000 mourners took leave of Sala, Mayor Julio Müller paid tribute to the deceased in a moving speech: "We all carry Emi in our hearts."
Among the mourners were also representatives of Sala's last two clubs FC Nantes and Cardiff City. The striker had switched from Nantes to the Premier League club in the winter break to Cardiff.
AFP
People before the funeral for Emiliano Sala
Two days before the disaster, he had signed the contract in Wales and had only once returned to Nantes to say goodbye. On the return flight to Cardiff, the tragedy happened. Sala's body was recovered on 4 February and transferred to Argentina one day before the memorial service.
The single-engine propeller aircraft with the 28-year-old footballer and a British pilot disappeared from the radar on January 21 about 20 kilometers north of the Channel Island Guernsey. Sala had recently expressed his fear of disaster in a voice message.
"I'm in an airplane that looks like it's falling apart, and I'm on my way to Cardiff," he told WhatsApp friends and relatives, "if you do not hear from me in an hour and a half, I do not know if They're not going to find me anyway, Dad, I'm so scared. "
Two weeks after the crash, the light aircraft was located at the bottom of the English Channel. Underwater pictures showed a corpse inside the wreck. This had been taken out of the wreck under "difficult conditions," said the British Aviation Inquiry Bureau (AAIB) last week. The operation was "as dignified as possible" run.