National coach Tom Saintfiet escapes plane crash with Gambian team on the way to Africa Cup: “We could all have been dead”

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The Africa Cup starts in Ivory Coast on Saturday. On Wednesday evening, our compatriot Tom Saintfiet’s Gambia also boarded the plane, but after 20 minutes they had to return due to a serious oxygen problem on board.

READ ALSO. Will Tom Saintfiet’s Gambia send his cat to the Africa Cup? “My players don’t want to leave as long as they don’t get paid”

It was an eventful evening there in Gambia. Because the players were still waiting for their qualification bonus, they first sent their cat to the farewell training and even threatened a boycott. Ultimately, they boarded a plane to Ivory Coast – after promises from the association to pay out the premiums – but during that flight they narrowly escaped disaster. After twenty minutes the plane, with the entire Gambian selection and Antwerp coach Tom Saintfiet on board, had to turn around. There was too little oxygen on board and most of the passengers fell asleep after just a few minutes.

“We could all have been dead,” Saintfiet said in a short response. “We almost got carbon monoxide poisoning. After nine minutes the pilot decided to turn back. We were all already falling asleep. Some players found it difficult to wake up. Another half hour of flying and we would all have been dead.”

“Tremendous heat and no oxygen”

“As soon as we entered the small plane that had been hired, we noticed the enormous heat, which made us sweat,” says player Saidy Janko. “The crew assured us that the air conditioning would start as soon as we were in the air. The inhuman heat, combined with the increasing lack of oxygen, caused many people to suffer severe headaches and extreme dizziness. In addition, some fell deeply asleep a few minutes after boarding the plane or taking off.”

“Once in the air, the situation became worse, leaving the pilot with no choice but to make an emergency landing at Banjul airport nine minutes after takeoff. Otherwise the consequences could have been much worse! If we had been exposed to the situation any longer in an airplane, without oxygen….”

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At first glance, no one appears to have suffered permanent damage. In Gambia it is an hour earlier, but nevertheless the players asked to train late on Wednesday evening. Gambia will in principle play its first group match against outgoing African champions Senegal on Monday. It is currently unclear when Gambia will travel to the tournament.

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