All news

EMERCOM says jet crash near Yaroslavl killed all members of Lokomotiv hockey team

The team was going to play a game versus Dinamo Minsk as part of a tournament of the Continental Hockey League

YAROSLAVL, September 7 (Itar-Tass) — A crash of the Yakovlev-42 passenger jet that occurred Wednesday afternoon near the city of Yaroslavl, some 260 kilometers northeast off Moscow, has carried away the lives of all the players of the Lokomotiv ice hockey club who were going for a gameto the Belarussian capital Minsk, officials at the Yaroslavl regional branch of the Ministry for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense /EMERCOM/ told Itar-Tass.

The Yakovlev-42 that took off from Yaroslavl's Tunoshna airport at around 16:00 hours Moscow Standard Time /12:00 hours GMT/ to head for Minsk caught blaze right after getting airborne and crashed 2 kilometers away from the airport's runways.

The team was going to play a game versus Dinamo Minsk as part of a tournament of the Continental Hockey League.

EMERCOM said the total number of people aboard the misfortunate jet was 45.

According to preliminary reports by the Russian Federal Service for Civil Aviation /Rosaviatsiya/, the Yakovlev-42 failed to ascend to the required altitude and bumped into a beacon antenna.

"After lifting off, the jet failed to ascend to a secure altitude and bumped into the antenna of a beacon located outside the runway, after which it fell apart and tumbled to the ground," a spokesman for Rosaviatsiya said.

A team of psychologists specializing in aid during crisis situations, firefighters and rescuers are working at the site of the crash.

All in all, 104 men and 31 units of technology are engaged in the rescue operation at the spot of the disaster.