Chapeco rises from ashes of tragedy

Before the friendly match between the Brazilian football club Chapecoense and Palmeiras, the survivors of the Chapecoense team are to be honoured in Chapeco, Brazil, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. [Photo/IC]

'Small community'

The survivors met with management on Friday to discuss compensation from the Bolivian airline, Lamia, which owned the plane that crashed.

The tragedy was a blow to Chapeco, a town in which nearly all of its 200,000 inhabitants had some kind of connection to the team, either as supporters or sponsors.

"We are a small community. We are not used to such a high profile," said mayor Luciano Buligon.

"But this global attention has comforted us. This big wave of solidarity is helping us to raise our head and to look ahead."

The popularity of Chapecoense has gone well beyond Brazil's borders.

Miguel Alvarez said he and friends traveled from Argentina "for the inaugural match of this club that had a tragedy that affected everybody."

He added: "Football matters, yes, but mostly there has to be solidarity with the human side of it all."