What we know about the disappearance of Emiliano Sala

Premier League club Cardiff City’s record new signing,
Argentine striker Emiliano Sala, is missing presumed dead after a light
aircraft he was travelling in disappeared over the English Channel on
Monday.

 Here’s what we know about the incident:

Heading to Wales

Sala, 28, signed for Cardiff for a
fee reported to be around £15 million ($19 million) last weekend and was
heading to the Welsh capital after saying his final goodbyes to former
team-mates at French Ligue 1 Nantes on Monday. He had scored 13 goals
for the club this season, which attracted Cardiff’s interest as they
fight to avoid relegation from the Premier League. Sala had posted a
photo on his Instagram account surrounded by players from the French
club saying “La ultima ciao (the last goodbye).”

Channel Islands search

French civil aviation authorities
confirmed that Sala was on board a single-propeller Piper light aircraft
that went missing off the Channel Islands on Monday night. A statement
from police on Guernsey, a British Crown dependency just off the coast
of France, said the pilot had requested to lower his altitude shortly
before air traffic control in neighbouring Jersey lost contact with the
plane when it was flying at 2,300 feet (700 metres).

Operation suspended

After a search was called off on Monday
because of high winds, two helicopters, five aircraft and a lifeboat
joined renewed efforts on Tuesday morning to find the plane. One of the
rescuers said they were fearing for the worst especially due to the cold
temperature of the sea. Guernsey police noted the chances of survival
were slim and the efforts would resume at sunrise Wednesday.

Shock

The Malaysian-owned Welsh club’s executive
director Ken Choo expressed his shock as he awaited more information on
the missing plane carrying the Argentinian. Nantes president Waldemar
Kita said in an official statement his thoughts were with Sala’s friends
and family.

Night-time vigil

Nantes fan group ‘A La Nantaise’ released a
statement calling for supporters of Sala’s former club to gather in the
centre of the city for a vigil at 6:30pm (1730 GMT) on Tuesday.