More than 100,000 people have braved pouring rain to say goodbye to members of a Brazilian football club who died in a plane crash.

The accident on Monday in the Colombian Andes claimed most of the Chapecoense club's players and staff as it headed to the finals of one of Latin America's most important club tournaments.

The crash killed 71 of the 77 people on board, including 19 players on the team.

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More than 20,000 rain-soaked mourners jammed inside the modest stadium, with four or five times that number outside - about half the population of the southern Brazilian city of 200,000 - to pay homage to a little club that nearly reached the pinnacle of Latin American soccer.

Others lined the roads as the coffins were driven in a procession from the airport to the stadium memorial.

"I've been here since early morning," said Chaiane Lorenzetti, a 19-year-old who said she worked at a local supermarket frequented by club players and officials. "I'll never see some of my clients again. It's a devastating day that will last forever."

Ahead of the memorial, the bodies arrived on Saturday morning in Chapeco in southern Brazil. Several cargo planes flew overnight from Colombia.

The coffins were received by soldiers waiting in formation on the tarmac. Brazilian President Michel Temer was among dignitaries at the airport, applauding as each coffin passed by.

The stadium memorial comes after a heart-wrenching week for residents and family members stunned by the crash.

Hundreds of banners, flags and hand-written messages hung around the stadium - in Portuguese, Spanish and English.

A tent, with places for the coffins underneath, stretched across the width of the soccer field. On top of the white tent, a sentence from the club's anthem was written for all to read.

"In happiness and in the most difficult hours," it said. "You are always a winner."

One sign in Spanish was aimed at Colombian officials who helped with the rescue - six people survived, including three players - and the details of returning the remains to Brazil.

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"Colombia, Gracias Por Todos," it read, or "Colombia, Thanks For All" in English.

"They deserve a farewell of champions," said Tatiana Bruno, who stood inside the stadium in the rain.