The Herald, April 29, 1993 

THE cream of the Zambian national football team died shortly after midnight on Tuesday when their chartered military plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after take-off from Libreville, Gabon. 

Seventeen players and two coaches, a physician and a Football Association of Zambia official died in the worst accident involving an African soccer team in history. 

Those not on the plane, but due to join the team in Senegal, were Kalusha Bwalya, Johnson Bwalya, Charles Musonda, Kenneth Malitoli and Gibby Mbasela. 

The team was scheduled to play in a World Cup Group B final qualifying round match in Senegal on Sunday. 

The team included five internationally-based players including Kelvin Mutale. Other professional players are Derby Mankinka, Robert Watiyakeni, Godfrey Kangwa, and Samuel Chomba. 

Reports said the Zambian Military Buffalo CT15 crashed into the sea minutes after taking off from Libreville, capital of Gabon, and all 30 people aboard died.  

The plane had stopped over to refuel. 

The Zambian Air Force Buffalo CT15, a Canadian built transport plane, was carrying 25 passengers and five crew members. 

LESSONS FOR TODAY 

 Sports is big business. Despite lack of major resources by most African sporting organisations, questions still linger why the football team had to be ferried by a military jet. How often are they serviced during peace times?  

 How old was the jet, and couldn’t the Zambia football association charter a jet for such an important assignment? 

 Despite the reasons given, has it ever occurred to analysts that the plane might have been shot down by terror groups? Like most air traffic accidents, the accident thus remains an open case until definitive answers are presented. 

 The death of so many leading players was a big blow for Zambia. 

 Despite the tragic loss of 18 of their national squad in an air crash, Zambia went on to rebuild another team with the great Kalusha Bwalya and other leading players who were not on the plane forming the backbone of the new team. 

 The following year, at the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia, they defied all odds and reached the finals where they lost to eventual winners Nigeria.

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