Loss of hockey players mourned

At least 43 hockey players and flight crew members were killed in a plane crash Wednesday near Moscow, according to ESPN, and people are taking to Twitter to mourn the loss.

After taking off from an airport near Yaroslavl, Russia, the Yak-42 plane crashed immediately into a riverbank after leaving the ground, reported  ESPN.

According to the New York Post, Russian player Alexander Galimov survived the crash along with a crew member.

On the plane were players from the Kontinental Hockey League’s Lokomotiv ice hockey team. According to the New York Post, the team is an international club league drawing players from countries like Russia, Belarus, and Latvia.

The team was on its way to “Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where they were to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the Kontinental Hockey League season,” reported ESPN.

The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense has an updated list with the names of those who died in the crash. This list also includes Lokomotiv coach Brad McCrimmon who played “18 years in the NHL for Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix,” according to ESPN.

This catastrophe comes after an already tumultuous summer for hockey fans and players. In the last five months, players Wade Belak, Rick Rypien, and Derek Boogaard have been found dead.

“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 in a statement. “Our deepest condolences go to the families and loved ones of all who perished.”

On Twitter, thousands of people have paid their condolences to the players and flight crew lost in the crash. Many have done so by tweeting “Lokomotiv” and “KHL,” which have been used more than 10,000 times combined in the last five hours, according to statistics from Topsy, a social media search engine.

The NHL has also compiled a detailed list of tweets from players paying their respects.

“I haven’t tweeted in a long time but want to speak today. To all the families of the Yaroslavl players, coaches and to the families of my good friends Josef Vasicek, Jan Marek and Ivan Rachunek I send out my condolences and sympathies,” tweeted Martin Havlat of the San Jose Sharks. “You will never be forgotten.”

For more information on the crash, check out this storfyful by Aine Kerr.