Plane crash in Russia leaves 43 dead, two in critical condition
September 7, 2011
On Wednesday, a plane carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl crashed during takeoff from the airport near Yaroslavl. The Associated Press reports that 43 people were killed in the crash. The two remaining survivors, a crew member and Russian hockey player Alexander Galimov, are both in critical condition. The accident is one of the most devastating crashes involving a sports team of all time.
"It was wobbling in flight, it was clear that something was wrong," Irina Pryakhova, a local resident who witnessed the crash, told the AP. "I saw them pulling bodies to the shore, some still in their seats with seat belts on."
The team was flying to Belarus to play against Dinamo Minsk in the season opener for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The league issued a statement to express their grief over the loss and offer condolences to the family members of the team, coaches and crew members of the flight who lost their lives, The Vancouver Sun reports.
People can use international phone cards to make calls to Russia to talk to their friends about the latest developments on the crash.