Russian Jet Ice Hockey Team Takes Fall

A Russian jet carrying an ice hockey team crashed after takeoff Wednesday in western Russia.

The incident killed at least 43 people and leaving one person seriously injured, officials said. Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the plane Yak-42 fell shortly after leaving the airport near the city of Yaroslavl, Volga River about 150 kilometers northeast of Moscow that.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately sent Transportation Secretary of State to the crash site is 10 miles east of Yaroslavl. The ministry said the plane was carrying an ice hockey team named from Yaroslavl Lokomotiv. At that time the ice hockey team was on its way to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, to play against Dinamo Minsk on Thursday in the opening match of the Continental Hockey League earlier in the season.

KHL league club is an international collaboration with teams from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Slovakia. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl is a major force in Russian hockey and was third last year in the KHL. The team is coached by coaches from Canada that is Brad McCrimmon and include some international stars in its ranks, such as Stefan Liv of Sweden and the Czech Republic Josef players Vaicek and Jan Marek.

Not too clear Yak-42 which they were traveling on Wednesday, given that the Yak-42 there for the short and medium distances. Yak-42 has existed since 1980. President Dmitry Medvedev has announced plans to legalize old Soviet aircraft starting next year.