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Emiliano Sala missing after Cardiff-bound plane vanishes off Guernsey

Cardiff City paid FC Nantes around $19 million for the Argentine forward last week.
Image: Emiliano Sala plays for Nantes in 2017
Emiliano Sala plays in a game for FC Nantes in 2017.Stephane Mahe / Reuters, file
By Associated Press

PARIS — Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala is missing after a small passenger plane vanished over the English Channel, according to the French civil aviation authority.

French and British maritime authorities are searching for the aircraft that lost radar contact off the coast of the island of Guernsey.

Sala, 28, signed for Premier League team Cardiff on Friday for a club record fee. He had previously been playing for French club Nantes.

Image: A map showing Guernsey
Guernsey is the second largest of the Channel Islands and is located about 30 miles west of Normandy, France.Bing Maps

Guernsey police say the flight left Monday evening from Nantes en route to Wales with two people aboard.

Police say the search resumed Wednesday morning and that no trace of the single-engine plane had been found.

The French regional maritime authority sent a search helicopter.

Premier League strugglers Cardiff City paid FC Nantes around 17 million euros ($19 million) for the forward last week.

Sala had scored 12 league goals in 19 appearances for Nantes in France's Ligue 1 this season before agreeing to join Cardiff.

Reuters contributed.