The private search for the missing plane that carried Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson has commenced after the target amount on the GoFundMe page was surpassed again.
The official search for the pair was called off on Thursday evening but, upon pleas by the family of the Cardiff City striker, a fundraiser was set up for the activity to be sustained. Barcelona star Lionel Messi as well as the President of Argentina, Mauricio Marci, also added their voices against the search being halted.
Within 24 hours of the foundation of the GoFundMe page, the initial target of €150,000 was met. As a result, two private search vessels were deployed to resume the search on Saturday.
A host of sympathizers and football stars including the Lionel Messi, Ilkay Gündoğan, Adrien Rabiot, Dmitri Payet, Kylian Mbappe, N'Golo Kante, among others have all contributed an amount of money to help the cause. The figure was updated to €300,000 and it has once again been met.
As of Sunday evening, an amount in the excess of €322,000 had been raised while other donations continued to pour in. Earlier, Guernsey harbormaster David Barker stated that the chances of survival were likely "extremely remote" after admitting that the decision to call off the earlier search was a difficult one.
However, Sala's relatives maintain optimism of the pair being found and have relocated to the Guernsey island to be closer to the search location. Upon surpassing the €3000,000 threshold, they released a statement to express their gratitude for the generosity they experienced.
"With the new ceiling of €300,000 having been reached, the Emiliano family and we would like to thank you again for your exceptional generosity in a tragedy that goes far beyond football," the statement read.
"As donations continue to be made, the fund will remain open for the time being, waiting for news from Emiliano and the pilot, D. Ibbotson.
"As a reminder, the money will be used exclusively for research (mobilization of maritime and air transport, exploration of the seabed, etc.) and assistance to families. Thank you again."
