Devastating new family tragedy after Emiliano Sala's death

The father of Argentinian footballer Emiliano Sala, who was killed in a plane crash earlier this year, has died after a suspected heart attack.

Argentinian media has reported Horacio Sala died suddenly in his home town of Progreso, aged 58.

His death comes just three months after his son was killed, aged just 28, when the plane taking him to the UK to play for Cardiff City in the English Premier League crashed into the English Channel.

Local politician Julio Muller told Argentine media that the Sala patriarch has struggled immensely after his son’s tragic death.

“He could never get over Emi’s death,” he said.

“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 to Argentine media back in February, Mr Sala expressed his heartbreak over the fate of his son.

“I cannot believe it. This is a dream. A bad dream. I am desperate,” he said.

“He was a lad who always fought for what he had.”

New chapter in tragic tale

A large crowd bid an emotional farewell to Emiliano Sala at the footballer’s funeral service in his native Argentina.

Family, friends, supporters and former teammates paid tribute to the striker in his small Argentine hometown, almost four weeks after the plane carrying him to Wales crashed into the English Channel.

The 28-year-old Sala’s body received a hero’s welcome in Progreso where much of the grieving population paid their last respects to their football idol before the body was taken away for cremation.

“It is something that I still cannot understand or accept because it hurts so much,” said Progreso resident Lucia Torres, who was in tears.

“My town shut down on Jan. 21 and remains shut down to this day.”

Sala was the best-known figure from Progreso, a town of several thousand inhabitants in Argentina’s Santa Fe province, and was adored by many.

He had been known since childhood here as “Emi.”

A post-mortem found that Sala died from injuries to his head and torso when his plane crashed in the channel.

The single-engine aircraft was flying from the French city of Nantes to Cardiff where Sala was due to start a new career playing for the Welsh capital’s Premier League club.