TRAGIC footballer Emiliano Sala died from injuries to his head and chest after the plane he was flying in crashed into the English Channel last month, a post-mortem has confirmed.
The inquest into the Argentine striker's death was opened and adjourned until November 6 at Dorset Coroner's Court this afternoon.
Senior coroner's officer Ian Parry confirmed Sala was pronounced dead from "head and trunk" injuries at Portland last Thursday, February 7 and was formally identified by fingerprints.
The 28-year-old was flying with pilot David Ibbotson from Nantes in France to Cardiff on January 21 when their Piper Malibu light aircraft disappeared.
Sala had just signed for the Bluebirds from FC Nantes for a club record £15m transfer fee and was en-route to the Welsh capital to meet his new teammates at the time.
Wreckage of the plane was later located on the seabed around 21 miles north of Guernsey before Mr Sala's body was recovered following a privately funded search last week.
British father-of-three Mr Ibbotson, 59, has not been found and his family have launched an appeal to help locate his body.
England legend and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker and PSG striker Kylian Mbappe have donated huge sums towards the Ibbotsons' fundraising appeal, which has raised over £150,000 so far.
The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) could take between six months and a year to complete their investigation into the crash.
