Chapecoense air crash survivor Henzel dies

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian journalist Rafael Henzel, one of six survivors of the 2016 Chapecoense plane crash, died of a heart attack late on Tuesday. He was 45.

Henzel was rushed to hospital after collapsing while playing football in the southern city of Chapeco but died shortly after.

Chapecoense described Henzel as a "symbol of the club's reconstruction" in an emotional tribute posted on social media.

"The green and white pages of this institution will always remember his example of overcoming [adversity] and everything he did for the club and the city of Chapeco," the post said.

The radio reporter was scheduled to call Chapecoense's Copa do Brasil clash with Criciuma on Wednesday night for local station Oeste Capital. Chapecoense asked the Brazilian Football Confederation to postpone the match.

Last week Henzel was in Europe to participate in promotional events for the documentary Nossa Chape, which recounts the club's struggle to rebuild after the tragedy.

Seventy-one people died - including 19 Chapecoense players and all of the coaching staff - when the plane in which they were traveling crashed near the Colombian city of Medellin in November 2016.

The accident occurred less than two days before Chapecoense were due to play Atletico Nacional in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final, the Brazilian club's first appearance in a continental tournament decider.

Other survivors of the crash were goalkeeper Jackson Follmann, center-back Helio Neto, left-back Alan Ruschel, and flight attendants Erwin Tumiri and Ximena Suarez.