CosmicHotspur
Better a wag than a WAG
- Aug 14, 2006
- 51,069
- 22,383
So many dead and many in their 20s and early 30s, awful tragedy. RIP.
A chartered jet carrying Russia's major league ice hockey team Lokomotiv has crashed on take-off near the central city of Yaroslavl, with 43 deaths.
Two people survived with serious injuries after the disaster, which saw the jet burst into flames shortly after leaving an airport near the city.
It appears many of the team were aboard, heading to Belarus for the season's first match.
Russian reports suggest the jet may have struck a radio mast.
Witnesses saw it burst into flames shortly after taking off from the airport, about 250km (160 miles) north-east of Moscow.
A number of foreign citizens were killed, including the team's Canadian coach, Brad McKinnon, and Swedish goalie Stefan Liv.
Russian player Alexander Galimov survived the crash with 80% burns along with a member of the crew. Russian media briefly reported the player had died of his injuries, but a medical source later told the Russian news website Sovetsky Sport he was still alive.
The chairman of the board of directors of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Vyacheslav Fetisov, described the air disaster as an "irreparable loss for world ice hockey".
Flames 'nine storeys high'
The team, which had been due to play Dinamo Minsk on Thursday, include players from Germany and Slovakia.
He said the plane had barely taken off before it plunged to the ground, and he saw "flames as high as a nine-storey building".
Russian aviation officials were quoted as saying the Yak-42 jet had failed to gain height and hit a radio mast, breaking up and catching fire.
The reigning champions Ufa had already started their first game of the KHL season, but abandoned the match when the gravity of the crash became clear.
"In such a situation, after their friends and colleagues died, the players of both teams considered playing to be absolutely impossible," KHL president Alexander Medvedev said.
The 10,000-strong crowd in Ufa's stadium held a minute's silence for the victims of the crash.
President Dmitry Medvedev was due to travel to Yaroslavl for a forum later in the week, and his spokeswoman says he will alter his schedule to visit the crash site.
Mr Medvedev has promised to overhaul the industry and take out of service ageing jets from the Soviet era.
The country has a poor aviation safety record. In July this year a passenger plane crashed in northern Russia and 44 people died.
A chartered jet carrying Russia's major league ice hockey team Lokomotiv has crashed on take-off near the central city of Yaroslavl, with 43 deaths.
Two people survived with serious injuries after the disaster, which saw the jet burst into flames shortly after leaving an airport near the city.
It appears many of the team were aboard, heading to Belarus for the season's first match.
Russian reports suggest the jet may have struck a radio mast.
Witnesses saw it burst into flames shortly after taking off from the airport, about 250km (160 miles) north-east of Moscow.
A number of foreign citizens were killed, including the team's Canadian coach, Brad McKinnon, and Swedish goalie Stefan Liv.
Russian player Alexander Galimov survived the crash with 80% burns along with a member of the crew. Russian media briefly reported the player had died of his injuries, but a medical source later told the Russian news website Sovetsky Sport he was still alive.
The chairman of the board of directors of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Vyacheslav Fetisov, described the air disaster as an "irreparable loss for world ice hockey".
Flames 'nine storeys high'
The team, which had been due to play Dinamo Minsk on Thursday, include players from Germany and Slovakia.
- Founded: 1949. Renamed six times before reverting to founding name in 2000
- Home city: Yaroslavl; 250km north-east of Moscow
- Stadium: Arena 2000, capacity 9,000
- Honours: Three-time Russian champions (1997, 2002, 2003)
He said the plane had barely taken off before it plunged to the ground, and he saw "flames as high as a nine-storey building".
Russian aviation officials were quoted as saying the Yak-42 jet had failed to gain height and hit a radio mast, breaking up and catching fire.
The reigning champions Ufa had already started their first game of the KHL season, but abandoned the match when the gravity of the crash became clear.
"In such a situation, after their friends and colleagues died, the players of both teams considered playing to be absolutely impossible," KHL president Alexander Medvedev said.
The 10,000-strong crowd in Ufa's stadium held a minute's silence for the victims of the crash.
President Dmitry Medvedev was due to travel to Yaroslavl for a forum later in the week, and his spokeswoman says he will alter his schedule to visit the crash site.
Mr Medvedev has promised to overhaul the industry and take out of service ageing jets from the Soviet era.
The country has a poor aviation safety record. In July this year a passenger plane crashed in northern Russia and 44 people died.
