AKIPRESS.COM - Colombian authorities say evidence is growing that a plane carrying a Brazilian football team crashed because it ran out of fuel as it tried to land, reports BBC.

Civil aviation chief Alfredo Bocanegra said an initial inspection at the site indicated the plane "did not have fuel at the moment of impact".

It appeared to corroborate a leaked tape in which the pilot can be heard requesting permission to land due to an electric failure and lack of fuel.

Only six of 77 people aboard survived.

"Upon arriving at the scene of the accident, and having been able to do an inspection of all of the remains and parts of the plane, we can affirm, clearly, that the aircraft did not have fuel at the moment of impact," Mr Bocanegra told a news conference.

The plane plunged into a mountainside near the Colombian city of Medellin late on Monday.

There was no explosion, which experts say could also indicate a lack of fuel.

Officials say the plane's "black boxes", which record flight details, will be sent to the UK to be opened by the manufacturers, the British company, BAE.

A full investigation into the crash is expected to take months.