One of the six survivors of the deadly plane crash carrying a Brazilian soccer team is speaking out about her experience a year after the incident killed 71 passengers and crew.
Ximena Suarez was a flight attendant on the Colombia-bound charter plane before the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed into the Andes on Nov. 28, 2016.
Nineteen senior members of the Chapecoense soccer team from Brazil died in the crash. They were travelling to compete in the Copa Sudamericana finals. Only three team members survived.
“I consider the survivors my brothers, because on that day, that very Nov. 28, we were reborn,” Suarez told Agence-France Press.
Suarez is publishing a book about her experience to coincide with the anniversary of the crash. She said writing it was a form of therapy for her.
The 28-year-old said she struggled with depression since surviving the crash.
“It was difficult to pick myself up because it was a big blow. I fell in a deep depression,” she said.
“My family, my children have helped me come out of all that, everything I was feeling. Also, the people who support me to this day. They are incredible.”
Suarez said she believes she and her fellow survivors were spared for a higher calling.
“We are a miracle. A miracle which we are witnesses of to help others. I think that is our purpose, why we six were left here behind,” she said.
An investigation from the Colombian aviation authorities found that errors by the pilot, airline and Bolivian regulators are to blame for the plane crash.
Authorities said the pilot failed to refuel en route and did not report engine failures caused by the lack of fuel until it was too late.
— with files from Carlos Vargas, the Associated Press
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