A plane carrying 77 people, including the squad of a top-flight Brazilian football team, has crashed in mountains outside the Colombian city of Medellin, killing 71 people on board.

The plane was carrying Brazilian football team Chapecoense to the biggest game in its history when it crashed.

The plane was on its way to the city's international airport from Bolivia when it crashed amid poor weather conditions.

Image of a Chapecoense badge purportedly found at the crash site, shared by Colombian media (360 Radio Colombia/Twitter)

The crash occurred shortly after 10pm local time (3am GMT) on Monday night. It is believed the pilots reported an electrical fault to the control tower, but investigators are also looking into reports the plane ran out of fuel before it crashed. Authorities said there were at least five survivors.

"May God accompany our athletes, officials, journalists and other guests traveling with our delegation," the club said in a brief statement, adding it would not comment further until the extent of the crash became clearer.

"Confirmed, the aircraft license number CP2933 was carrying the team @ChapecoenseReal. Apparently there are survivors," the Jose Maria Cordova de Rionegro airport, which serves Medellin, said on its Twitter account.

Flight CP2933 departed Bolivia's Santa Cruz airport at 6.18pm Bolivia time (10.18pm GMT), according to flight tracking websites. It had 68 passengers on board and nine crew members.

Colombia's civil aviation head, Alfredo Bocanegra, initially said there were 75 confirmed fatalities, with six injured survivors.

They were listed as three players, a journalist and two members of the flight crew. Two of the six were in grave condition.

Alan Ruschel who plays for Chapecoense, on loan from Internacional, as a defender (Getty)

Airport authorities in Medellin said on Twitter that poor weather made the crash site only accessible by road, and in the early hours of Tuesday they said the rescue effort had been suspended "because of heavy rain in the accident area".

"It's a tragedy of huge proportions," Medellin's Mayor Federico Gutierrez told Blu Radio on his way to the site.

Chapecoense is a team from southern Brazil, currently ranked 9th in the Brasileiro top division, and was scheduled to play the Copa Sudamerica finals against Atletico Nacional on Wednesday in Medellin.

Conmebol, the South American Football Confederation, issued a statement saying it “greatly regrets what happened” and that “all activities of the Confederation are suspended until further notice.” The confederation’s President, Alejandro Domínguez, was en route to Medellín.

Medellin Plane Crash Show all 17 1 /17 Medellin Plane Crash Medellin Plane Crash Logo of Brazilian football team Chapecoense at the site of the plane crash in a mountainous area outside the Colombian city of Medellin. Plane carrying Brazilian football team Chapecoense crashes in Colombia Rex Medellin Plane Crash Rescue workers carry the body of a survivor of a plane that crashed in La Union, a mountainous area outside Medellin, Colombia AP Medellin Plane Crash Rescue workers carry the body of a man from a plane that crashed outside Medellin, Colombia. The plane was carrying the Brazilian first division soccer club Chapecoense team that was on it's way for a Copa Sudamericana final match against Colombia's Atletico Nacional AP Medellin Plane Crash Medical staff waiting for survivors of the crashed plane carrying the Brazilian football team Chapecoense, at San Juan de Dios La Ceja Hospital, in La Ceja municipality, near Medellin Rex Medellin Plane Crash Medical staff from the San Juan de Dios hospital transfer 27-year-old Brazilian soccer player Alan Ruschel as he arrives to La Ceja in Colombia Rex Medellin Plane Crash 81 people, including the players of the Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense, crashed in a mountainous area outside Medellin as it was approaching the Jose Maria Cordoba airport EPA Medellin Plane Crash Medical staff from the San Juan de Dios hospital transfer Brazilian journalist Rafael Henze as he arrives at La Ceja in Colombia after surviving a plane crash EPA Medellin Plane Crash razil's Chapecoense player Helio Neto is helped by paramedics at the San Juan de Dios clinic in La Ceja. Traveling on the doomed airliner that crashed in Colombia overnight were the players and staff of a Brazilian football club about to complete a fairytale journey from unknowns to would-be South American champions Getty Medellin Plane Crash Rescue workers search at the wreckage site of a chartered airplane that crashed outside Medellin, Colombia AP Medellin Plane Crash A charter plane carrying the Chapocoense Real football team crashed in the mountains in Colombia late Monday, killing as many as 75 people, officials said Getty Medellin Plane Crash Rescuers gesture near the wreckage of the LAMIA airlines charter plane carrying members of the Chapecoense Real football team that crashed in the mountains of Cerro Gordo, municipality of La Union Getty Medellin Plane Crash Supporters of the Chapcoense FC gathering at the club in Chapeco, Brazil EPA Medellin Plane Crash Supporters of the Chapcoense FC gathering at the club in Chapeco, Brazil EPA Medellin Plane Crash People pay tribute to the players of Brazilian team Chapecoense Real who were killed in a plane accident in the Colombian mountains, at the club's Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco Getty Medellin Plane Crash Fans pay tribute to members of the Chapecoense team in front of the club headquarters, in the city of Chapeco Getty Medellin Plane Crash People pay tribute to the players of Brazilian team Chapecoense Real who were killed in a plane accident in the Colombian mountains, at the club's Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco Getty Medellin Plane Crash People pay tribute to the players of Brazilian team Chapecoense Real who were killed in a plane accident in the Colombian mountains, at the club's Arena Conda stadium in Chapeco, in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina Getty

The aircraft was an Avro RJ85, built in 1999 and previously owned by CityJet of Dublin. The model has a good safety record. It had reportedly carried the Argentinian national football team earlier this month.