Emiliano Sala’s sister has shared an image of Emiliano Sala’s dog Nala looking for him and waiting patiently for his master to come home.
Romina Sala shared the picture on Facebook showing Nala looking out of a window and she captioned it ‘Nala is waiting for you too…’. The Cardiff City striker had put the dog into kennels ready for his move to Wales and Nala is believed to be one of the reasons he returned to France.
The picture emerged as the man who found the wreckage of the plane carrying the missing footballer said it was ‘imperative’ it is raised from the seabed to provide answers to his family. The Piper Malibu N264DB carrying Sala, 28, and pilot David Ibbotson, 59, was discovered off the coast of Alderney in the English Channel on Sunday evening – almost two weeks after it disappeared. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) confirmed on Monday that a body is visible in the wreck, which is about 67m deep. Marine scientist David Mearns – known as ‘the Shipwreck Hunter’ – volunteered to help the Sala family for free after initial search and rescue efforts by a number of agencies failed. Mr Mearns and his team, working in conjunction with the AAIB, found the remains of the plane within two hours of starting their search.
He said he had stayed in regular contact with the Sala family by text message because of the language barrier. ‘We are informing them every step of the way what’s going on and they are making it clear to us what their priorities are at all times,’ he said. ‘There’s a much greater chance they will get answers if (the plane is) recovered.’ Mr Mearns continued: ‘I haven’t spoken to them verbally, but they were devastated the last time we were here and frankly the news is worse today. ‘Now their worst fears are confirmed, so I would imagine they would be just as devastated – it’s going to take a long time for them to come to terms with the loss.’ He said lifting the plane was now the most important task.