A sad and tragic day in the history of the Russian’s Ice Hockey. A private Russian plane carrying their top ice hockey team to its first game of the season crashed into a river bank after a few minutes take off last Wednesday, killing 43 people leaving 2 people both in grave condition.
Of the 43 people killed, 27 players of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team, along with 2 coaches and 7 club officials. While a player Alexander Galimov and a crew member were hospitalized. Among the dead were Lokomotiv coach and NHL veteran Brad McCrimmon, a Canadian; assistant coach Alexander Karpovtsev and Pavol Demitra. Other standouts killed were Czech players Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek, and Jan Marek, Swedish goalie Stefan Liv, Latvian defenseman Karlis Skrastins and defenseman Ruslan Salei of Belarus.
The plane was scheduled from Yaroslavl to Minsk, where they were supposed to play against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the Kontinental Hockey League season. It is reported that the Yak-42 plane struggled to gain altitude a few minutes after takeoff and hit a signal tower before breaking into pieces in the Volga River near Yaroslavl, 240 kilometres northeast of Moscow.
“This is the darkest day in the history of our sport,” said Rene Fasel, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation. “This is not only a Russian tragedy – the Lokomotiv roster included players and coaches from 10 nations.”
This tragedy however, draws attention to the poor air safety records of Russia and other former Soviet republics.
Shock and stunned by the news. Deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to the ones involved. We hope that comfort and peace may come to you.
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