Chilean mountain climbers say they have found the wreckage of a plane that disappeared more than a half century ago with a team of professional soccer stars aboard.
The climbers said they came across the wreckage at an altitude of about 3,200 meters in the Andes Mountains some 300 kilometers south of the Chilean capital, Santiago. The group declined to give the exact location to Chilean media, saying they were concerned the crash site could be looted.
Video shot by the mountaineers aired Sunday on Chilean television showing the twisted wreckage of the aircraft, including its smashed propeller. The climbers said they saw scattered debris and bones.
The Douglas DC-3 went down on April 3, 1961, killing all 24 people onboard, including eight members of the Chilean Green Cross soccer squad. The team was returning to Santiago after a match in the Chilean city of Osorno.
The players and staff were spread over two flights. One of the planes reached Santiago and the other vanished.
The crash and disappearance of the plane stunned the sporting world and marked one of the greatest tragedies in sports history.
