Hockey team on crashed Russian plane, 44 dead

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woofy

The Master of Disaster
Staff member
MOSCOW - The start of Russia's ice hockey league has been delayed in the wake of Wednesday's plane crash which killed at least 44 people including members of the Lokomotiv team travelling to their first match of the season.
The tragedy happened when a Russian jet crashed on takeoff at an airport outside the central Russian city of Yaroslavl.
A police source told Interfax that the stricken plane suddenly started listing to the left and crashed about 500 metres (yards) away from the Tunoshna airport.


"According to the latest data, there were 45 people on board
 
Sole player to survive Russian plane crash dies

he only hockey player to survive the impact of a deadly plane crash in western Russia has died in hospital. Alexander Galimov, 26, died in Moscow's Vishnevsky hospital on Monday.


The hospital said Galimov died of the severe burns that covered 90 per cent of his body.
Galimov was one of 37 members of the Lokomotiv Yarolslavl hockey team who boarded a doomed flight last Wednesday.
The hockey team had boarded a chartered plane so that it could travel to Minsk, Belarus, to play in the opening game of the Kontinental Hockey League season.


But the plane crashed into the Volga River bank shortly after takeoff, bursting into flames just outside the western city of Yaroslavl. The cause is still unknown.


The tragic crash instantly killed all of the coaches, staff and players on board, except for Galimov, who lived for another five days.
The team's Canadian coach, former NHL defenceman Brad McCrimmon, was among the passengers who were killed in Yaroslavl.
A number of other NHL alumni, including Pavol Demitra, Alexander Karpovtsev, Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek, Karlis Skrastins, Alexander Vasyunov, Igor Korolev and Ruslan Salei were also among the dead.


Seven flight crew members died in the crash, while one crew member named Alexander Sizov survived.
Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported Monday that Sizov is currently recovering in a general ward at Moscow's Sklifosovsky hospital. He was recently moved out of intensive care.


Galimov was a native of Yaroslavl and had learned to play hockey in his hometown.
In the days following Wednesday's crash, hockey fans at rallies in Yaroslavl chanted "Galimov, live for the whole team!" as well as other slogans dedicated to him.
 
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