Russia mourns hockey team killed in plane crash

Sep 8, 2011, 7:57 GMT

Moscow - Russia began three days of mourning Thursday for the 43 people who died when a plane carrying an ice hockey team crashed near the central city of Yaroslavl.

Most of the victims were players or staff from the top-level professional ice hockey team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Eleven foreign nationals were among the dead, according to news reports.

The Soviet Yak-42 passenger plane taking off Wednesday from an airport outside Yaroslavl failed to gain altitude and clipped a runway antenna before crashing and breaking apart.

By dawn Thursday, rescuers had recovered all the bodies while doctors battled to save the lives of the two survivors. Flight engineer Aleksandr Sizov and Lokomotiv forward Aleksandr (Sanya) Galimov suffered extensive burns and other injuries, hospital officials said.

Both were in 'extremely severe' condition but would be transported to Moscow hospitals on Thursday, according to a statement from the Health Ministry agency Minzdravsotsrazvitiya.

President Dmitry Medvedev visited the crash site, 250 kilometres northeast of Moscow, and laid red roses on the bank of a river. Portions of the wreckage were still visible in the water, in broadcast images.

Medvedev said Russia's air transport industry needed a total overhaul. He called for drastic reductions in the number of companies operating in the market, strict enforcement of crew qualification, and a rapid phasing-out of Soviet aircraft.

'This situation needs radical change,' Medvedev said.

Fans in the city of Yaroslavl filled the entrance to the Lokomotiv ice hockey arena with flowers and candles.

A banner posted by fans read: 'Sanya, keep fighting! The country is with you!'

Yaroslavl city hall announced it would build a memorial in the town centre.

Investigators said the most likely cause of the crash appeared to be failure of one of the plane's engines after take off. Pilot error was, however, a possible contributing factor, they said.

Authorities had found one of the plane's black boxes, or flight recorders, in tail section debris in the river. A search was continuing for the second flight recorder.

The Continental Hockey League, which is made up of Europe's strongest ice hockey clubs - among them Lokomotiv Yaroslavl - cancelled all matches planned for Thursday in honour of the victims.

All top-level football games played over the weekend will begin with a minute of silence, a statement from Russia's Football Union said.