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Russian air crash stuns international hockey

08 September 2011 04:59 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Forty-three out of 45 people were killed in Wednesday’s crash of a Russian plane carrying a top Russian ice hockey team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl near the central Russian city of Yaroslavl, APA reports.

"This is the darkest day in the history of our sport," International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel said. "This is not only a Russian tragedy. This is a terrible tragedy for the global ice hockey community."

According to the chief local surgeon, one Russian player, identified as Alexander Galimov, and a crew member had survived but were in grave condition.

"Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world, including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends who at one time excelled in our league," said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Some NHL stars also expressed their surprise and sorrow for the tragedy.

Alex Ovechkin, a Russian superstar for the NHL Washington Capitals said: "I’m in shock!" and called the crash as "a whole national tragedy".