Tens of thousands of people have attended a memorial ceremony in Russia for the victims of the plane crash that devastated the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team.
Mourners including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin filled the team’s arena in Yaroslavl and placed flowers near coffins containing remains of players and staff who died in the September 7 crash.
The team lost 36 of its players, coaches and officials — including many European and former NHL players — when its chartered Yak-42 jet crashed into the Volga River bank shortly after taking off from Yaroslavl, 250 kilometers northeast of Moscow.
In total, 43 people died in the accident. The only two men who survived the crash, player Aleksander Galimov and crew member Aleksander Sizov, remain in critical condition.
compiled from agency reports