(Image source: RT)
BY TRACY PFEIFFER
ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN
You're watching multisource world video news analysis from Newsy.
Details are still coming in about a plane crash in Russia that left at least 40 people dead -- many of them -- members of the Russian champion hockey team Lokomotiv Yuroslavl.
“A jet carrying a three-time champion Russian ice hockey team has crashed near the runaway in the town of Yuroslavl. That’s 270 kilometers northeast of Moscow. Now the latest information that we’re getting is that there are only two survivors among the 42 people who were on board.”
Reports say the bulk of the team’s starting lineup and four youth players are among the dead- - representing some ten countries. (Video: RT)
CNN was one of the few outlets to put up an early report on the cause of the crash -- saying...
“An aviation agency spokesman ... told CNN the plane crash occurred around 4 p.m. ... during take-off because the plane couldn't reach a safe altitude fast enough. The aircraft collided with the antenna of the airport beacon, fell to the ground and broke into several pieces and caught fire...”
ESPN quotes International Ice Hockey Federation president René Fasel on the accident. He says-- it’s an unprecedented tragedy for the world of ice hockey.
"Despite the substantial air travel of professional hockey teams, our sport has been spared from tragic traffic accidents... But only until now. This is the darkest day in the history of our sport."
The New York Times notes -- this is just one in a string of plane crashes that have amped up criticism of Russian airline safety standards.
The plane in question was operated by Russia’s YAK Service. (Video: RT)
“In 2009, Russian regulators restricted the carrier’s operations for nearly three months after finding major safety deficiencies... In 2010, the European Union barred two of YAK Service’s Yak-40 planes from flying into the 27-nation bloc after Russian regulators failed to provide evidence that all of the airline’s planes were fitted with mandatory safety equipment.”
RT reports an investigation into the crash is already underway.
Transcript by Newsy.
