[Benjamin]

A private Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team has slammed into a riverbank moments after take-off, killing at least 43 people in one of the worst plane crashes ever involving a sports team.

Both Russia and the world of hockey were left stunned by the deaths of so many international stars in one catastrophic event. Two other people on board were critically injured.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 plane crashed into the shores of the Volga River immediately after leaving the airport near the western city of Yaroslavl, 150 miles north-east of Moscow. The weather was sunny and clear at the time.

Russian media said the plane struggled to gain altitude and then crashed into a signal tower, shattering into pieces. Russian television showed a flaming fragment of the plane in the river as divers worked feverishly to recover bodies.

The plane was carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where the team was to play tomorrow against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

The ministry said the plane had 45 people on board, including 37 passengers and eight crew.

The Emergency Ministry said Czech players Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek and Jan Marek, Swedish goalie Stefan Liv, Canadian coach Brad McCrimmon, Latvian defenceman Karlis Skrastins and defenceman Ruslan Salehi of Belarus were among those killed. Slovakian national team captain Pavol Demitra, who played in the NHL for the St Louis Blues and the Vancouver Canucks, was also among the dead, officials said.

"Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world - including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, team-mates and friends who at one time excelled in our league," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

Officials said Russian player Alexander Galimov survived the crash along with a crew member. "Their state of health is very grave. But there is still some hope," said Alexander Degyatryov, chief doctor at Yaroslavl's Solovyov Hospital.

The cause of the crash was not immediately apparent, but Russian news agencies cited unnamed local officials as saying it may have been caused by technical problems.

http://news.uk.msn.com/world/ice-hoc...d-in-air-crash

[Doogle]

Oh my god, that's terrible.

[Novo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lokomotiv_Yaroslavl

That is the team

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Galimov

And he was the only player to survive but he's in a coma and unlikely to survive

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by Novo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lokomotiv_Yaroslavl

That is the team

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Galimov

And he was the only player to survive but he's in a coma and unlikely to survive

The survivors have 80% burns to their bodies too.

[DrunkerThanMoses]

God that is terrible

[Ninastar]

thats really awful. I can't imagine if something like this happened here

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Ninastar

thats really awful. I can't imagine if something like this happened here

We usually have 1 airliner "accident" year in the UK, but there has been none since 2009 - the last worst such "event" was, of course :

1988 21 December - Pan Am Flight 103, operated by Boeing 747-100 N739PA en-route from London Heathrow Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport was blown up just after crossing the England-Scotland border. The terrorist attack was conducted by Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. As of 2011, this remains the deadliest terrorist attack in the United Kingdom. all 243 passengers and 16 crew members on board the aircraft were killed as well as 11 residents of Lockerbie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...United_Kingdom

[lostalex]

Plane crashes are always one of the ways i fear most to die, because they say it takes as long as 5 minutes for the plane to actually crash. I think any way in which you have so much time to know you are going to die is horrific. An you can do nothing to stop it, feeling so helpless.

I really hope I die quickly and don't have time to think about it first.

[Marc]

That's awful.

I would want to die instantly and not 'survive' with burns

[DrunkerThanMoses]

The one who survived it died

[fruit_cake]

I hate flying

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by DrunkerThanMoses

The one who survived it died

There were 2 survivors. Did they both die?

[Benjamin]

The eighth member of the crew, Alexander Sizov, is now the only survivor of the crash

One crew member survived but the odds are not good for them.

[Novo]

There is only 1 survivor he has been moved out of intensive care recently his life is no longer considered in danger

[Novo]

He only has 15% of burns to his body as well.. i say only but the other guy who died shortly after had 80% of burns to his body

[Novo]

the goalkeeping coach stayed behind to train with the youth team as well bet he feels lucky

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by Novo

the goalkeeping coach stayed behind to train with the youth team as well bet he feels lucky

Yeah, I bet. How horrible though that all your team mates have died.