For four players, the victory in the tournament was the last in their lives. The bus turned into a pile of metal.
The triumphal trip to the tournament turned into a real drama for the football club. The return of the team with the cup ended in a terrible accident with numerous victims.
The whole world is praying for the health of those injured in the accident. And for several athletes, the victorious match was the last in their lives.
The triumphant departure of a modest team
The youth team “Vila Maria Helena” from the state of Rio de Janeiro does not cooperate with the football giants of Brazilian football. It was created as a social project in 2019 so that the local youth would not stop playing. Three teams of young football players are brought up here, and the training process is led by Rafael Maximiano.
The project does not have a major sponsor, it exists due to support from the budget and donations from caring citizens. Thanks to this, the club’s teams compete in regional competitions.
– We introduce them to football, we try to take them to different places. Most of them do not have this opportunity because of the conditions in which they live here in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Maximiano said.
Recently, the team was returning from one of these competitions, held in the city of Ubaporanga in a neighboring state. “Vila Maria Helena” was very successful: the boys under 18 took first place, and the 16-year-old boys came second.
The games were held for three days and ended in the afternoon. But the team did not stay overnight in Ubaporanga, but went home by bus. The team had to overcome about 500 km and return home well after midnight.
The bus crashed into the abyss
But the players were not destined to get to their hometown. Having done two-thirds of the way, the bus got into an accident at half past one in the night. According to 16-year-old team goalkeeper Pedro Augusto, the driver violated the rules of the road, because of which he was unable to control the steering in one of the sharp turns.
As a result, the bus broke through the fence of the bridge and, flying down ten meters, landed on the roof. Rescuers and the military quickly arrived at the scene of the accident. For several hours they removed people from the mangled bus.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to save all the participants in the accident. It is authentically known about four dead young football players. Another 29 people received injuries of varying severity. They were taken to nearby hospitals.
By coincidence, Cayo Soares managed to avoid this accident. The 17-year-old football player was unable to travel with the team due to an appointment with a doctor. He begged his mother to let him go to Ubaporanga, but she was adamant.
“Recently I was hospitalized due to an illness. Was in the hospital for several days. Then I was discharged, and the doctors scheduled a second appointment on the day of the trip. I tried to talk to my mother, but she said: “No, you are going to the doctor,” O Globo quoted the young footballer as saying.
Now all the details and circumstances of the terrible accident are established by the police. If the driver’s guilt is proven, then he faces a long prison term for the death of young football players.
