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Two survivors of Wed's Yak-42 crash are flight engineer, hockey player

"The two persons who survived the disaster are in hospital," a source in the Yaroslavl region's public health system told Itar-Tass by telephone

MOSCOW, September 8 (Itar-Tass) — Physicians in the city of Yaroslavl say the bodily condition of the two men who survived the tragic crash of a Yakovlev-42 jet there Wednesday is heavy.

"The two persons who survived the disaster are in hospital," a source in the Yaroslavl region's public health system told Itar-Tass by telephone. "They have severe burns."

The Yakovlev-42 jet belonging to the Yak-Servis charter airline crashed seconds after takeoff from Yaroslavl airport. It had 45 people aboard, including Russia's top-rated Lokomotiv ice hockey team in full force.

Lokomotiv players, coaches and assistant staff were heading for the Belarussian capital Minsk where they were expected to appear in a match versus a local team Thursday as part of the Kontinental Hockey League /KHL/ championship.

According to Alexander Dyagteryov, the head doctor of the Solovyov hospital where the two survivors were taken, the Lokomotiv forward Alexandr Galimov has been given a surgery.

"The player has burns over 80% of his body," Dyagteryov said.

The other survivor, the flight engineer whose name was not specified by the time of reporting, has burns over 15% of the body and a hip fracture.

In the meantime, the criminal case over the air crash has been handed to the investigators of Russia's Investigations Committee.

"The investigative efforts will involve the most experienced investigators and crime experts, who have a record of activity with cases of this kind," Vladimir Markin, the Investigation Committee's official spokesman told Itar-Tass.

The Yakovlev-42's, medium-range three-engine jets with a seating capacity of 100 to 120 passengers, were designed in ther 1970's and launched into commercial manufacturing in 1979. The last jet in the family was built in 2002.

The jets have the maximum speed of 810 km per hour and the cruising speed of 740 km per hour. They can get to the maximum altitude of 9,600 km and fly non-stop at distances of up to 4,000 km at maximum fuel load.

The previous major accident involving a Yakovlev-42 occurred May 26, 2003, near Trabzon in Turkey. A jet that was making a flight from Bishkek, the capital of Kyergyzstan, crashed into a mountain on the final approach amid dense fog.