Emiliano Sala funeral: Thousands of mourners line streets to bid farewell to late footballer | London Evening Standard

Emiliano Sala funeral: Thousands of mourners line streets to bid farewell to late footballer

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Thousands of tearful mourners lined the streets for the funeral of late footballer Emiliano Sala.

Mourners wept as friends and family - including Sala's Nantes team mate Nicolas Pallois and brother Dario Sala - carried his coffin to a hearse following a service at San Martin de Progreso: Sala's boyhood club in Argentina.

Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock and club CEO Ken Choo were among the mourners on Saturday.

Warnock and Choo joined locals from the small town of Progreso for the service, which took place in the club's gym.

Family and friends carry the coffin of Emiliano SalaSebastian Granata/Reuters

They arrived wearing black suits with yellow daffodils pinned to their jackets as a tribute to Sala.

Family and friends carry the coffin of Emiliano SalaSebastian Granata/Reuters

Warnock told reporters: "Family puts it in perspective. Family is so important, everything here today has shown how important it is... it seems like the whole village has got together."

Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock attends Emiliano Sala's wake in ProgresoSebastian Granata/Reuters

Cardiff's players have also worn shirts bearing the flower in memory of Sala, who became the club's record £15 million signing days before his death.

Sala's mother and father were also present at the vigil.

His coffin was taken for a private cremation service in the city of Santa Fe later on Saturday.

People leave flowers on Emiliano Sala's coffin at the cemetery in Santa Fe, ArgentinaNatacha Pisarenko/AP

Before the funeral, San Martin de Progreso posted a tribute to Facebook which said: "We are waiting for you... like the first day you left but this time to stay with us forever. You went and you are an example for everyone."

He died on January 21 when the plane he was travelling in crashed in the English Channel after he had visited players at his former French club, Nantes.

Hundreds of people bid farewell to Emiliano Sala Gustavo Garello/Getty Images

His body was pulled from the wreckage on February 7 but the British pilot, David Ibbotson, 59, from Lincolnshire, has not been found.

A fundraising campaign to restart the search for the pilot has raised more than £240,000.

Sala's former team mate at Nantes, Nicolas Pallois, carries the coffin together with Sala's brother, Dario, and relatives Gustavo Garello/Getty Images

Speaking on Good Morning Britain earlier this week, his daughter Danielle said the family would not give up hope.

"If you've got hope then you shouldn't give up," she said. "He wouldn't stop searching for me."

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She added: "We still hope and pray and hope everyone keeps my dad in their prayers."

The plane remains on the seabed off the coast of Guernsey in the English channel.

Additional reporting by Press Association.