HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Marshall University has held a quiet ceremony to turn on a fountain dedicated to the victims of a deadly plane crash involving its football team 50 years ago.
Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick and President Jerome Gilbert spoke Saturday without an audience in the annual spring ceremony to turn on the memorial fountain on its campus in Huntington.
The ceremony was shown live across various athletic department and school social media accounts. No audience was allowed because of the coronavirus pandemic and campus shutdown.
“This is to celebrate Marshall’s commitment to continuing its football program after the tragic crash of Nov. 14, 1970,” Hamrick said.
Marshall’s chartered plane crashed while returning from a game at East Carolina. The jet crashed into a hillside short of an airport in rain and fog near Huntington. Among the 75 people killed were 36 football players.
It remains the deadliest crash involving a sports team in U.S. history.
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