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WORLD NEWS Friday 2 december 2016

Fidel Castro ashes Grief turns to anger amid reports of lack of fuel in crash
complete first leg of
cross-country trip FERNANDO VERGARA Machado said, speaking in itself had flown on its flights too late.The recording ap-
JOSHUA GOODMAN the Brazilian team’s home- before. peared to confirm the ac-
Associated Press town of Chapeco. “This “They had a good service counts of a surviving flight
CHRISTINE ARMARIO
FABIOLA SANCHEZ MEDELLIN, Colombia (AP) plane ended (the lives of) then. It was the airline that attendant and a pilot flying
Associated Press — Authorities prepared 71 people.” got in touch with us be- nearby who overheard the
SANTA CLARA, Cuba (AP) Thursday to transport the Williams Brasiliano, uncle of cause they have experi- frantic exchange. These,
— Fidel Castro’s ashes are bodies of dozens of victims midfielder Arthur Maia, said ence in doing these long along with the lack of an
completing the first leg of this week’s air tragedy in the crash was avoidable flights in South America,” explosion upon impact,
pointed to a rare case of
Colombia as grief turned to if the team had chosen a he said.
of a more than 500-mile
(800-kilometer) journey anger amid indications the commercial airline to travel A recording of the flight’s fuel burnout as a cause of
to Colombia — not a char-
final minutes showed the the crash of the British Aero-
airliner ran out of fuel be-
across Cuba, traveling in
a flag-draped cedar coffin fore slamming into the An- ter. “Look how complicat- pilot repeatedly request- space 146 Avro RJ85, which
des. Bolivian aviation offi-
through small towns and
cities where his rebel army cials announced they were
indefinitely suspending the
fought its way to power
nearly 60 years ago. charter company that op-
erated the flight.
Just after 7 a.m. on Wednes-
day, an honor guard Many of the victims were
players and coaches from
placed the coffin under a
glass box on a trailer be- a small-town Brazilian soc-
cer team that was headed
hind a Russian jeep. Thou-
sands of soldiers and state to the finals of one of South
America’s most prestigious
security agents saluted the
remains as they rolled slow- tournaments after a fairy-
tale season that had cap-
ly out of Havana’s Plaza
of the Revolution and the tivated their soccer-crazed
nation.
cortege made its way to
the Malecon seaside bou- On Thursday, row upon row
of caskets, many covered
levard and east into the
countryside. with white sheets printed
with the logo of the Chapo-
Tens of thousands of peo-
ple lined the route, which coense soccer team, filled
a Medellin funeral home in
retraces in reverse the path
of the triumphant march of preparation for being flown A funeral employee walks past coffins containing the remains of the victims of the Colombian air
home, as family mem-
Castro and his rebels across tragedy are lined up in the parking garage of the San Vicente funeral home in Medellin, Colom-
the island to enter Havana bers of some victims gath- bia, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016.
ered there to say their final
on Jan. 1, 1959. Many (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
waved flags and shouted good-byes. experts said was flying at its
Grieving relatives of the ed that flight was going to ed permission to land be-
“Long may he live!” Oth-
ers filmed the procession dead spoke out in disbe- be even if it had arrived,” cause of “fuel problems,” maximum range.
lief after a recording of Brasiliano said tearfully of although he never made The Bolivian Civil Aviation
with cellphones, a luxury
prohibited in Cuba until an conversations between a the team’s itinerary, which a formal distress call. He Authority announced Thurs-
pilot of the doomed flight included a flight from Sao was told another plane day it was indefinitely sus-
ailing Castro gave up pow-
er in 2006 to his younger and air traffic controllers, Paulo to Bolivia on a com- had been diverted with pending all flights operated
as well as the account of mercial airliner before the mechanical problems and by LaMia. British aviation
brother, Raul, who began
a series of slow reforms. The a surviving flight attendant, ill-fated flight to Medellin. had priority, and was in- authorities said the flight
indicated the plane ran out “Even if they had arrived, structed to wait seven min-
data and cockpit voice re-
ashes were to arrive late
Wednesday in the central of fuel before crashing late it is clear that they would utes. corders recovered from the
Monday, killing all but six of be tired from the trip to As the jetliner circled in a accident site were being
city of Santa Clara, where
they would spend the the 77 people on board. play a final. This can’t be holding pattern, the pi- brought to Britain for study.
Osmar Machado, whose right. I doubt that a bigger lot grew more desperate. Meanwhile, authorities pre-
night at a memorial to fel-
low revolutionary Ernesto son, Filipe, a defender on club would have done the “Complete electrical fail- pared to repatriate the
the Chapecoense team, same,” he said.
ure, without fuel,” he said victims’ remains, most of
“Che” Guevara, whose re-
mains are interred in Santa died on his father’s 66th Chapecoense spokesman before the plane set off on which had been identified
birthday, questioned why Andrei Copetti defended a four-minute death spiral.
by Thursday. Relatives of
Clara.
An enormous Cuban flag the plane, which was flying the team’s decision, say- By then the controller had some of the victims gath-
at its maximum range on ing that more than 30 clubs gauged the seriousness of ered at a Medellin funeral
hung outside the memo-
rial to Guevara and hun- the flight from Santa Cruz, had used the Bolivia-based the situation and told the home, and a Brazilian air
Bolivia, was transporting company, LaMia airlines, other plane to abandon its force transport plane was
dreds of soldiers and city
residents turned out for the the team. brings including Argentina and approach to make way for on stand-by to take the
“Profit
arrival.q greed,” Bolivia, and that the team the charter jet. But it was bodies home Friday. q