Lokomotiv hockey player savors life after plane crash

A young forward on the Lokomotiv hockey team, Maxim Zyuzyakin, learned at the last minute that he would not fly to Minsk with the rest of his team. The 20-year-old was told to stay in Yaroslavl just a day before the flight. He later found out that all but two of his teammates had been killed in an airplane crash.

The Yak-42 crashed near Tunoshna village in the Yaroslavl Region. Most of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team were killed while traveling to Minsk to take part in the Kontinental Hockey League. According to preliminary data, 45 people were on board, including 37 passengers and eight crew members. The two survivors, hockey player Alexander Galimov and crew member Alexander Sizov, are in serious condition.