The family of Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala say they can now
begin mourning after his body was formally identified following its
recovery from a crashed plane in the Channel.
“We can now begin to mourn our son and our brother. We would like
to thank you for all of your signs of affection and support in the most
painful time of our life. To see everyone doing everything possible to
join us in the search has been a precious help to us” the
Argentinian player’s family said in a statement, also thanking everyone
involved in the effort to locate the submerged wreckage off Guernsey.
The family said their thoughts were also with the family of the
59-year-old pilot of the plane, David Ibbotson, whose body has not yet
been found, saying “we hope the authorities do everything possible to
find him”.
Sala had returned to France to say goodbye to his teammates at Ligue 1
club Nantes and was flying to Wales on January 21 to join up with his
new club following his 17-million-euro ($19.3 million) transfer. The
plane, a Piper PA-46 Malibu, vanished from radar around 20 kilometres
(12 miles) north of Guernsey.