Quantcast

Russian Plane Crash Kills 43 Including Hockey Team

110907-russia-plane-hmed-7a.grid-7×2
Misha Japaridze / AP Wreckage of Russian Yak-42 jet, carrying a top ice hockey team, seen near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River about 150 miles northeast of Moscow, Russia, Wednesday.
110907 russia plane hmed 7a.grid 7x2
(Misha Japaridze / AP ) Wreckage of Russian Yak-42 jet, carrying a top ice hockey team, seen near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River about 150 miles northeast of Moscow, Russia, Wednesday.

A Russian Plane crashed today, killing 43 on board.

The Yak-42 plane, which was carrying 37 passengers and eight crew, went down following take-off from the city of Yaroslavi, which is about 150 miles north of Moscow.

According to Reuters, Interfax cited an official as saying the plane had trouble gaining altitude, hit an antenna near the runway and caught fire after the crash.

Two people are said to have survived with critical injuries.

The plane was carrying a local hockey team and members of a Continental Hockey League KHL. MSNBC reported that the international club league brings together teams from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Slovakia.

The team was reportedly heading to their opening game for the season.

Although it wasn’t clear which players were on board Wednesday, according to the Associated Press, the team is coached by former Flyer Brad McCrimmon and the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team includes goalkeeper Stefan Liv of Sweden and Czech Republic players Karel Ranuchek, Josef Vaicek and Jan Marek and Slovakia’s Pavol Demitra.

This crash follows a June crash, in which a Russian jet crashed in Petrozavodsk and killed over 45 people.