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Search continues for plane missing near UK's Channel Islands

File photo shows Piper Malibu, the type of the light aircraft that went missing over the English Channel on January 22, 2019.

UK authorities say a search operation for a light aircraft that went missing near the Channel Islands is continuing as media reports suggest an Argentinean soccer player signed recently by a major Welsh football club was onboard the plane when it disappeared from the radars.

Search and rescue operations continued on Tuesday afternoon after more than 1,000 squares miles had been checked while looking for the missing aircraft, said the police in Guernsey, an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy in France.

The search was called off by 2:00 am on Tuesday morning due to worsening weather conditions but was then resumed the following morning at 8:00 am.

The plane had reportedly requested permission to land moments before going down over the English Channel on Monday evening.

French civil aviation authorities confirmed that the aircraft was travelling from Nantes in Western France to Cardiff Airport when it disappeared from radar view and lost radio contact with airport authorities.

According to the reports, the Piper Malibu aircraft went missing near the Casquets Lighthouse at around 8:30pm.

Cardiff City football player Emiliano Sala is feared dead on board a plane that went missing over the English Channel on January 21, 2019.

However, reports in the British media said Emiliano Sala, a newly-signed player for Cardiff City, a soccer club competing in the Premier League, had been confirmed as one of the missing persons aboard the light aircraft.

Cardiff City Chairman Mehmet Dalman confirmed the news and concerns over Sala, 28, in a statement speaking to the press.

“We are awaiting confirmation before we can say anything further. We are very concerned for the safety of Emiliano Sala,” said Dalman.

On Tuesday afternoon, head of the search and rescue operation John Fitzgerald said that he didn’t expect to find the Argentina-born Sala alive.

“Personally, and I only speak for myself, I do not think there is any chance of them being alive right now,” he said, “It was especially cold ... As the search progressed, the cloud came down and we had to stop the search, we could not see anything. And the conditions were just too bad for lifeboats.”


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