CHAPECO (REUTERS) - Coffins of Chapecoense soccer players are being prepared to be sent back to Brazil from Colombia for Saturday's (Dec 3) wake.

A total of 71 people died after the Bolivian charter airplane crashed in Medellin on Monday night.

Some relatives of the players are still in shock.

"What we most want now is to go home, to take our brothers, take them home because waiting is the worst thing," said Mr Roberto De Marque, a relative of a member of the Chapcoense team.

Medellin air traffic controllers had asked the pilot to wait while another flight made an emergency landing.

Investigators believe the plane ran out of fuel, and Bolivia has suspended the airline's operating license.

In Chapeco, a small town in southern Brazil, an indigenous tribe pays tribute to the dead players at the stadium.

Many mourners are camping out here.

"This is not something that is minor for us, this is a lot for us and above all else for our team, our players, our champions forever. We are here to offer our support and we will be here until they are returned to us here," said mourner America Ribero, who was camping out at the Stadium Fernando.

About 100,000 fans, half the city's population, and Brazilian President Michel Temer, are expected to attend Saturday's open-air wake.