Brazil's President attends repatriation of plane crash victims ahead of memorial

Brazil's President Michel Temer arrived in Chapeco on Saturday to bestow honours on the victims of the Colombian plane crash ahead of a memorial.

The president and relatives of the victims looked on as Air Force troops unloaded 50 coffins flown in overnight from Colombia, where Monday's crash killed 71 people and wiped out most of the Chapecoense football team.

Soldiers lined a red carpet in the rain and the president, his aides and family members applauded as the coffins passed.

At Chapecoense's stadium, an impromptu shrine of fresh flowers and handmade posters has grown ahead of the memorial set to take place later on Saturday.

Some 100,000 fans, about half the city's population, are expected to attend the memorial at the 20,000-capacity stadium, as was Gianni Infantino, president of world soccer governing body FIFA.

Because of the limited capacity, many plan to watch the ceremony on big screens set up outside.

Temer, who is deeply unpopular, had been scheduled to greet the planes at the airport on Saturday, but not go to the memorial.

He took power earlier this year after President Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed and was jeered at the recent Olympics.

However, after being criticized on social media and even the father of one of the fallen players, Temer's aides said he would in fact attend the memorial.

"He should come to the stadium. No one would boo," said Osmar Machado, father of dead defender Felipe.