Thousands Squeeze Into Church, Stadium To Mourn Tragic Crash

Supporters of Brazil's soccer team Chapecoense attend Mass at the city's Cathedral in Chapeco, Brazil (AP)

CHAPECO, Brazil (AP) -- Thousands squeezed into Chapeco's cathedral and even more packed a stadium to mourn the death of 71 people in a plane crash, 19 of them members of the Chapecoense club who had been on the brink of soccer greatness.

"To lose (almost) all of them in such a tragic way, totally destroyed our city and each one of us," Carla Vilembrini said late Tuesday, standing outside Santo Antonio Cathedral. She was dressed like so many others - in the club's green and white jerseys.

Chapecoense's fantasy season ended on a muddy Colombian mountainside late Monday when a chartered aircraft crashed south of Medellin. Only six of the 77 passengers and crew survived, three of them players.

The club was having the best season in its 43-year history, heading to the first of two matches in the final of the Copa Sudamericana, the continent's No. 2 club tournament.

Distraught residents of this southern Brazilian city of 200,000 people, an agribusiness center near the Argentina border, wandered the streets around the stadium - known as Arena Conda - in stunned silence. READ MORE...