Tobi Ijalana
The father of late footballer Emiliano Sala has died of a heart attack four months after his son was killed in a plane crash.
The 58-year-old Horacio Sala passed away in his bed in the town of Progreso, Argentina this morning which is said to be as a result of his son’s death.
His death is coming four months after his 28-year-old son Emiliano was killed in a plane taking him to English club Cardiff City.
The news was confirmed by Julio Muller, a local politician, that Sala had passed away and couldn’t be saved by paramedics.
Julio Muller said: ‘He could never get over Emi’s death.
“2019 doesn’t let up in shocking us with news in this town.
“At 5 o’clock in the morning, a lady, his wife, rang me and she was very upset. The doctors were there but when I arrived at their home, he had already died.”
Speaking in early February, former truck driver Mr Sala told Argentine TV: ‘I cannot believe it. This is a dream. A bad dream. I am desperate.’
He described his son as ‘small town humble boy’, adding: ‘He was a lad who always fought for what he had.’
Striker Emiliano Sala was flying to Cardiff in January following his transfer from French side Nantes when the Piper Malibu plane piloted by David Ibbotson crashed into the English Channel.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) found in its preliminary report in February that pilot Mr Ibbotson was not licensed to fly fee-paying passengers and the plane itself was not registered to undertake commercial flights.
