Global media gather in Brazilian town for football team's wake

International media outlets are gathering in a small Brazilian town to cover a mass wake for the local football team, which was virtually wiped out in a plane crash earlier this week.

At least 900 journalists from 14 countries have registered to cover the mass this Saturday in the western city of Chapeco for the Chapecoense football team, the Agencia Brasil news agency (EBC) said on Friday.

"Media vehicles, including cars equipped with technology for audio and video transmission, have crowded the area surrounding the arena," or the team's home stadium, the EBC said.

The club's management said another 800 media credential requests were yet to be processed.

The team's tragic demise in a plane crash late Monday has grabbed the world's attention.

Unlike clubs in larger cities, Chapecoense was well known to local residents.

A correspondent for Spain's TVE, Marcos Lopez, who was in Brazil covering the tragedy's aftermath, told the EBC that town residents and team members had close ties.

"Since it's a small city, I saw that people knew the players. It's not like Sao Paulo or Rio, where athletes are stars you can't reach. Here, it's like they are part of the family," Lopez told the agency.

The plane, operated by Bolivia's Lamia charter flight operator, had taken off from the Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, on its way to Medellin, Colombia, where the team was scheduled to play the first final match of the South American Cup.

Also on board, were some 20 sports writers covering the event.

Among the six survivors are three football players, two members of the eight-member Bolivian flight crew, and a sports reporter. Endit