As I am sure most people have heard, a plane went down in Russia with 43 people on board (although as you’ll see below the news stories differ on that number as well as if there was 1 or 2 survivors). On board this plane was the Lokomotiv ice hockey team travelling from Yaroslavl to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Below I have a compilation of stories about the crash, from websites around the world, and excerpts of them along with a link to follow to the site for the rest of the story.
KHL team in deadly plane crash
TUNOSHNA, Russia (AP) — A Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team crashed while taking off Wednesday, killing at least 43 people and leaving two others critically injured, officials said. It was one of the worst plane crashes ever involving a sports team.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 plane crashed into a riverbank on the Volga River immediately after leaving an airport near the western city of Yaroslavl, 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow. It was sunny at the time.
Read more Sports Illustrated
Russian jet carrying hockey team crashes, 43 dead
TUNOSHNA, Russia (AP) — A Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team crashed into a river bank Wednesday while taking off in western Russia, killing at least 43 people and leaving two others critically injured, officials said.
It said the plane was carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The ministry was carrying 45 people, including 37 passengers and eight crew, and two people survived the crash.
Read more Yahoo News
Former Wild player, Pavol Demitra among 43 killed in Russian plane crash
TUNOSHNA, Russia – Reports from western Russia say former Wild forward Pavol Demitra was among 43 people killed Wednesday when a jet carrying a top local ice hockey team crashed while taking off Wednesday.
It wasn’t immediately clear which players were on board the Yak-42. Officials said player Alexander Galimov survived the crash along with a crewmember.
Demitra’s agent, Matt Keator, confirmed his client was one of the players killed in the crash.
Read more KARE 11 (A local news outlet to us here in MN)
Only one survivor in Russia crash: report
Moscow – A passenger plane carrying a Russian ice hockey team crashed shortly after takeoff near the city of Yaroslavl on Wednesday, reportedly killing 36 of the 37 people on board, officials said.
The Yak-42 aircraft was headed from the city north of Moscow to Minsk in Belarus when it crashed, an official at state aviation agency Rosaviatsia said. The official said 36 people were killed and one was injured.
Read more IOL News (out of South Africa)
Russian jet crash kills 43, many top hockey stars
TUNOSHNA, Russia (AP) — A Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team crashed just after takeoff Wednesday, killing at least 43 people and leaving two others critically injured, officials said. It was one of the worst plane crashes ever involving a sports team.
A Czech embassy official said Czech players Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek and Jan Marek were among those killed, and Latvian officials confirmed the death of Latvian defenseman Karlis Skrastins.
“This is the darkest day in the history of our sport. This is not only a Russian tragedy, the Lokomotiv roster included players and coaches from 10 nations,” said Rene Fasel, president of the international Ice Hockey Federation. “This is a terrible tragedy for the global ice hockey community.”
Read more Associated Press
Top KHL squad killed in passenger plane crash in Russia
At least 43 people have died in a Yakovlev Yak-42 passenger plane crash near the city of Yaroslavl in Central Russia. The majority of victims were members of the local ice hockey team Lokomotiv.
The plane went down and caught fire shortly after taking to the air. Preliminary reports say it had insufficient lift and hit a beacon tower. An air traffic controller told Itar-Tass, that the aircraft was some 50 to 60 meters above the ground when it tilted to the left and crashed.
“We heard a plane take off so we told our granddaughter: ‘look, there is going to be an airplane.’ Then I heard a bang and my daughter told me: ‘mom, it is falling down, to the side.’ Then came the flames and the smoke and we wanted to run away but didn’t know where to run. Then we went to the river and saw the plane,” an eyewitness of the disaster told RT.
Ice hockey team Lokomotiv. Photo from the website of the KHL.
The heads of the KHL have held an urgent meeting to discuss the measures to be taken following the tragic crash and death of the Yaroslavl team. The Salavat Ulaev versus Atlant match, which is the opening battle of the league season, was cancelled by the KHL.
The tragedy marred the opening game of the KHL season in Ufa. Image by TV channel Rossiya-24.
Read more RT News (international)
KHL statement on Russian plane crash
The following statement, titled “Yaroslavl plane tragedy,” was issued by Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League on Wednesday after a passenger jet went down as it tried to take off in western Russia.
Russian hockey has been stunned by news of a plane crash which has killed almost all of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl’s team as they travelled to Belarus for their opening fixture of the KHL season.
A club spokesman confirmed that the aircraft was carrying the club’s players to their game with Dinamo Minsk, which was due to be played on Thursday.
Among those on board was newly appointed head coach Brad McCrimmon, recently arrived from Chicago Black Hawks [NOTE: The 18-year NHL veteran from Saskatchewan had actually most recently served as assistant coach for Detroit] to take charge of the team for the 2011-12 season. Two members of the World Championship-winning Czech team of 2010, Jan Marek and Josef Vasicek, were also among those in the crash.
Read more CBC News (Canada)
