Soccer player Sala died of head, torso injuries in crash

Tributes are paid to Emiliano Sala ahead of the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) The Associated Press

FILE - In this his file photo taken on Nov. 4, 2018, Argentine soccer player, Emiliano Sala, of the FC Nantes club, western France, reacts after scoring during a soccer match against Guingam, in Nantes, France. The Argentine forward, who scored his last goal for Nantes on Dec. 5 in a 3-2 win over Marseille, was killed in a plane crash last month and his body was recovered from the wreckage on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019 authorities said. (AP Photo/David Vincent, File) The Associated Press

Tributes are placed outside the Cardiff City Stadium, Wales, for Emiliano Sala, Friday Feb. 8, 2019. Tributes are being paid across soccer to Argentine player Emiliano Sala, with the French league announcing a minute's applause before matches. French club Nantes says it will retire the No. 9 jersey worn by Sala before he was sold last month to Cardiff in the English Premier League. (Aaron Chown/PA via AP) The Associated Press

Posted February 11, 2019 6:00 am

The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) - A post-mortem found Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala died from injuries to his head and torso when his plane crashed in the English Channel.

The evidence was heard at a coroner's hearing in the English city of Dorset on Monday, three weeks to the day since the crash.

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.

Home Office pathologist Dr Basil Purdue has given the cause of Sala's death as "head and trunk injuries."

Sala's body was recovered from the seabed wreckage last week but pilot David Ibbotson is still missing.

Acting senior Dorset coroner Brendan Allen said during Monday's hearing the Air Accidents Investigation Branch investigation could take up to 12 months.

A pre-inquest review hearing was set for Nov. 6.

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