Emiliano Sala confirmed dead after his body pulled from plane crash wreckage

Investigators have confirmed that the body of Emiliano Sala has been recovered from the wreckage of his plane that went missing last month.

A body was pulled from the aircraft, which was found on the bottom of the ocean north of Guernsey, earlier this week.

The plane, which was carrying Sala and pilot David Ibbotson, disappeared off the radar around 8:30pm on January 21, as the Cardiff City striker was travelling from Nantes to the Welsh capital.

The investigation to find the plane was initially called off after three days, but Sala's family raised the funds to keep the search alive, with thanks to donations from international football community.

A private search team announced that they had found the wreckage of the plane at the bottom of the English channel on February 4.

One body was inside the aircraft, which has now been successfully recovered and confirmed as being that of Sala.

Dorset Police confirmed: "The body brought to Portland Port today has been formally identified by HM Coroner for Dorset as that of professional footballer Emiliano Sala.

"The families of Mr Sala and pilot David Ibbotson have been updated. Our thoughts remain with them all."

Investigators used remotely operated vehicles were used to help pull the body out of the water "in as dignified a way as possible" despite "challenging conditions" in the recovery, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.

The whereabouts of Mr Ibbotson remain unclear at this time.

The Piper Malibu plane, registration N264DB, was found 67 metres underwater 21 miles off the coast of Guernsey and weather conditions meant that investigations were delayed.