A man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in relation to the death of Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala who died in a plane crash.<\/p>\n
The striker, who had signed with Cardiff City, was killed in the crash along with pilot David Ibbotson.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Dorset Police said a 64-year-old man from North Yorkshire had been arrested and released while investigations continue.<\/p>\n
The force added the families of the two men who died had been informed.<\/p>\n
Mr Sala, 28, had been travelling from Nantes to Cardiff on 21 January when the plane he was in lost contact with air traffic control north of Guernsey.<\/p>\n
His body was recovered in February but Mr Ibbotson’s has never been found.<\/p>\n
Mr Sala’s body was brought to Portland and Dorset Police has been carrying out inquiries on behalf of the coroner.<\/p>\n
Det Insp Simon Huxter, of the force’s Major Crime Investigation Team, said: “As part of this investigation we have to consider whether there is any evidence of any suspected criminality and as a result of our inquiries we have today, Wednesday 19 June 2019, arrested a 64-year-old man from the North Yorkshire area on suspicion of manslaughter by an unlawful act.<\/p>\n
“He is assisting with our inquiries and has been released from custody under investigation.”<\/p>\n
Det Insp Huxter urged people not to speculate about the identity of the man as it could hinder the investigation.<\/p>\n
The Piper Malibu aircraft was carrying Mr Sala and Mr Ibbotson, from Crowle, Lincolnshire, after the footballer returned to FC Nantes to say goodbye to his former teammates.<\/p>\n
An official search operation was called off on 24 January after Guernsey’s harbour master said the chances of survival were “extremely remote”.<\/p>\n
Shipwreck hunter David Mearns found the plane wreckage on 3 February, 220ft (67m) below water, using sonar after a crowdfunding appeal to find the aircraft raised \u00a3340,000 (371,000 euros).<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"