Ten-Year-Old Hailed As Hero For Saving Chapecoense Player From Plane Wreckage

Headlines over the last 24 hours have been dominated by the truly heartbreaking events in Medellin, Colombia where a plane carrying Brazilian football team Chapecoense crashed.

Close to 70 people died in the fatal incident, leaving the world of football to mourn the sad loss of the players who were on their way to the Copa Sudamericana final.

Alan Ruschel, a defender for the club, was one of the survivors from the wreckage and it was all thanks to a young local boy, according to reports.

The 10-year-old was apparently one of the first on the scene and, after identifying the wounded, he alerted rescuers. He is then said to have helped with the evacuation of Ruschel from the downed aircraft.

"When we parked, a child came and told us where the wounded were located," a resident told Efe, talking of the boy. "A policeman told me, 'You're the first to arrive, put the child in the truck and go to collect the wounded'."

The local, Sergio Marulanda, then drove his truck with the lad to help with the rescue mission, which resulted in reportedly saving six people.

The 10-year-old hero is yet to be identified but certainly deserves all the plaudits he's receiving.

Featured image credit: PA/Instagram

Topics: plane crash, Brazil

Mark McGowan

Mark is a journalist at LADbible, who joined in 2015 after a year as a freelance writer. In the past he blogged for independent football fan channel Redmen TV, after graduating from Staffordshire University with degrees in journalism and English literature. He has worked on campaigns such as UOKM8? and IIOC.