Emiliano Sala: Search for Cardiff City striker and pilot abandoned

The search was called off after a fourth unsuccessful day since the aircraft disappeared off radars on Monday night north of Guernsey - updates from Thursday

Fans gather in Nantes Royal Square to lay yellow tulips during vigil for Emiliano Sala

Follow the latest updates as the search for Emiliano Sala, a pilot and a missing plane was called off on Thursday afternoon without any trace of the missing Cardiff City striker in the English Channel.

The search was called off after a fourth unsuccessful day since the aircraft disappeared off radars on Monday night north of Guernsey. After officials confirmed that the priority of the search changed from a rescue mission to a recovery operation, a statement from police said that Thursday search will focus on coastal areas of the Channel Islands and northern France, yet this turned up nothing linked to the missing aircraft.

Cardiff City have said that they are “realistic” about the fate of Sala, who joined the club in a £15m deal last weekend, and revelations about the aeroplane that was carrying Sala and pilot Dave Ibbotson continue to emerge, including a voice message left by Sala to his friends in Argentina in the final hours before he disappeared complaining about the condition of the plane and his fear for his safety. Follow the live updates below.

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[24 January 2019 16:00 · Jack de Menezes]

[24 January 2019 16:14 · Jack de Menezes]

The news of the search coming to a halt has been met with a desperate plea from Sala's sister, Romina, who has travelled to Cardiff to meet with the club's board.

Speaking to the media immediately after the statement calling off the search was issued, Romina Sala said:

Please, please, please don’t stop the search. We understand the effort but please don’t stop the search. For us, they are still alive. It’s difficult to express our feelings at the moment because everything is really hard.

The last time I spoke to him was on Monday before he said farewell to the Nantes players. He was really excited about coming to Cardiff and we were talking all day

[24 January 2019 16:28 · Jack de Menezes]

[24 January 2019 17:01 · Jack de Menezes]

Here's the final news update from today. We'll bring you further developments in the coming days as we get them: