FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football – Ligue 1 – FC Nantes v Nimes Olympique – The Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau, Nantes, France – February 10, 2019 General view of a tribute inside the stadium in memory of Emiliano Sala REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – The body of footballer Emiliano Sala arrived in Argentina on Friday, ahead of this weekend’s wake and burial in his home town.
TV pictures showed a van carrying the body being slowly escorted out of the Buenos Aires airport by police vehicles.
The body is being driven to Progreso, around 538km (334 miles) northwest of the capital Buenos Aires, for a vigil and wake.
Sala, 28, had been flying from his previous club Nantes in western France to Wales on Jan. 21 to join up with Cardiff City when the single-engined Piper Malibu aircraft disappeared over the English Channel.
Wreckage was found on Feb. 3 following a privately-funded underwater search and a body was recovered three days later.
Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock and chief executive Ken Choo are among those who will attend the funeral.
Reporting by Nicolas Misculin, writing by Andrew Downie; Editing by Christian Radnedge