Florian Vijent

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Personal information
Florian Vijent

Full name	Florian Vijent
Date of birth	November 28, 1961
Place of birth
Date of death	June 7, 1989 (aged 27)
Place of death	Zanderij Airport, Paramaribo, Suriname
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
????-1989	Telstar	? (?)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Florian Vijent (born November 28, 1961 - died June 7, 1989 in Paramaribo) was a Dutch-Suriname football goalkeeper. During his career he served Telstar. He died at the age of 27, when on June 7, 1989 he was killed in the Surinam Airways Flight PY764 air crash in Paramaribo. He is not related to Ed Vijent.

Vijent was a big guy, which was the main reason for him to become a goalkeeper. At the end of the 1988-89 season he was named as "Best goalkeeper of the season" in the Eerste Divisie. Vijent was a look-a-like of fellow goalkeeper Stanley Menzo who played for AFC Ajax. They were close friends and Menzo often borrowed Vijent's drivers license.

Together with team mate Radjin de Haan he was invited by Sonny Hasnoe, the founder of the Colourful 11 to be part of the team and travel to Suriname to play in the "Boxel Kleurrijk Tournament" with three Surinamese teams. His friend Stanley Menzo was also invited, but Ajax did not want to let him go. Eventually Menzo ignored these demands and went as well, but took an earlier flight. The Surinam Airways Flight PY764 crashed during approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport, killing 176 of the 187 on-board, including Vijent, making it the worst ever aviation disaster in Suriname's history. Among the deads were a total of 15 members of the Colourful 11, only three of them survived, one of them being De Haan.

Vijent's younger brother Patrick was facing psychologic problems even before the dead of Florian. However after his dead things became worse and only a few days after the accident he threw himself in front of an upcoming train and killed himself.

Colourful 11 squad

Surinam Airways Flight PY764

Deaths: Degenaar • Doesburg • Van Dorpel • Fräser • Goodings • J. Haatrecht • Joemankhan • Knel • Kogeldans • Linger • Patrick • Scharmin • Veldman • Vijent • Manager: Stienstra • Survivors: De Haan • Lens • Nandlal