Journalist Rafael Henzel
CHPECO (Brazil), March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rafael Henzel who was among the six survivors of the plane crash that killed most of the Brazilian football team Chapecoense in 2016 has died after suffering a heart attack.
The Brazilian journalist, 45, collapsed while playing football with friends on Tuesday and was rushed to hospital but died shortly afterward.
After the crash, Chapecoense described him as a “symbol of the club’s reconstruction”.
The plane which was carrying 77 people, including 19 Chapecoense players, crashed in Colombia after running out of fuel.
The plane was flying from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in Bolivia, to Medellin, in Colombia, where the team were due to play in the final of the Copa Sudamericana.
After recovering from the Nov 28, 2016 crash, the highly respected journalist returned to his job at a radio station in the southern city of Chapecó.
“Throughout his brilliant career, Rafael told the story of Chapecoense,” the Chapecó club said in a tribute on its website (in Portuguese).
Henzel was scheduled to cover the match between Chapecoense and Criciúma for national tournament Copa do Brasil on Wednesday, but after his death, Chapecoense asked Brazil’s football association to postpone the match.
The other survivors are footballers Alan Ruschel, Helio Zemper Neto and Jakson Follmann, and crew members Ximena Suarez and Erwin Tumiri. — NNN-AGENCIES
