ZAMBIA PLANE CRASH: THE DANE WHO HELPED REBUILD ZAMBIA’S FOOTBALL TEAM
On 28 April 1993, travelling to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier, the squad’s plane stopped in Libreville in Gabon to refuel but came down off the coast not long after take-off.
According to the accident report, delayed by almost a decade, the right engine caught fire but the pilot shut down the still-functioning left engine and the aircraft plunged into the sea.
Eighteen players and 12 others on board lost their lives. No-one survived.
With a “golden generation” of young players tipped for great things, including World Cup qualification, the crash is viewed as one of the great disasters of African football.
But for Zambia, it also became the story of a remarkable revival as they quickly rebuilt their team. Poignantly, the Chipolopolo, a nickname that means Copper Bullets, would go on to become continental champions by winning the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon 19 years later. [BBC]
