Vintage footage of Pirates' icon Roberto Clemente uncovered

Pittsburgh Pirates icon Roberto Clemente died on New Year's Eve 40 years ago in a plane crash while on a humanitarian mission in Nicaragua. But his memory lives on, thanks to some lost footage of the slugger that was recently unearthed.

The University of Pittsburgh film archives unveiled 16mm film of the Puerto Rican native that was shot by KDKA photographers, CBS Station KDKA Pittsburgh reported, that had been stored away and had gone unnoticed.

Watch the report on rare footage of Roberto Clemente from KDKA:

Some of the highlights include Clemente at the plate and in the outfield. In one piece of footage, he talked about Forbes Field and the 1960 World Series, in which the Pirates won.

"I came out into the field and the street around Forbes Field, I would say I enjoyed the victory with the fans," he said. "I would have to say that was one of my biggest thrills here in Forbes Field."

Miriam Meislik, the media curator at the Archives Service Center, discovered footage that had not been cataloged. "I found the footage of them cleaning out Clemente's locker after his accident," she told KDKA. "This clip aired on the 6 p.m. news on January second, 1973. And they are shooting scenes of Clemente's locker, and packing up the contents of his locker. His cleats and his jersey, they're putting into this trunk. I don't know what they're going to do with it. Ship it off or put it in storage."

A Hall of Famer, Clemente's statistics during his 18-year playing career include a .317 batting average; 3,000 base hits; 240 home runs; and 1,305 runs batted in. He died on Dec. 31, 1972 at the age of 38.

Watch footage of Clemente from the University of Pittsburgh film archives: