[7seven]

Originally Posted by Vansterdam

russian jet carrying KHL team Locomotiv crashes killing 36 people

Heard this morning, horrible news. Pavol Demitra, Josef Vasicek and Ruslan Salei play on Lokomotiv

[Updated at 9:25 a.m.] A Russian Emergency Situations Ministry representative said there were 37 people aboard a plane that crashed, including four crew members.

Preliminary information indicates 36 died and one is missing, the ministry said.

However, the Russian Federal Aviation Agency said three people had survived the crash and that their condition was critical.

[Updated at 9:11 a.m.] The Yak-42 aircraft was taking members of a hockey team to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.

[Posted at 9:02 a.m.] A plane crashed as it took off from Russia's Yaroslavl airport, killing 36 people, Russian news agencies report.

The Yak-42 aircraft belonged to Yak-Service Airlines, the aviation authority told Interfax news agency.

Yaroslavl is located northeast of Moscow.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/07...ia-killing-36/


This has been the worst off season yet, with all the hockey related deaths. I know during his time here, Demitra was a popular whipping boy for the fans, but he was really such a skilled hockey player throughout his NHL career and definitely showed it during the 2010 Olympics. He was also a great guy, teammate and avid car enthusiast too.

A passenger jet carrying a KHL hockey team has crashed while taking off in western Russia, killing 36 people, according to the country's emergency situations ministry.

The ministry's regional branch said the Yak-42 plane carrying the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team crashed Wednesday after leaving an airport near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River northeast of Moscow. It said at least one person has survived but is injured.


Russia Today reported on its website that several of the victims were foreign players for the club, but the news agency did not list any names.

The team's website lists Canadian Brad McCrimmon, a former NHL player, as head coach, and says the team includes two Canadian players with NHL appearances — Ramzi Abid and Riley Armstrong, brother of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Colby Armstrong.

The team's 2011 roster also includes former Vancouver Canuck Pavol Demitra and former Ottawa Senator Karel Rachunek, as well as former NHLers Josef Vasicek and Karlis Skrastins.

But it is unclear whether any of those players were on board the plane that crashed Wednesday.

The team was heading 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 KHL is a league of several ex-Soviet nations that has attracted a number of NHL players to Russia in recent years.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2...ane-crash.html