Russian plane crashes, 36 dead

A passenger plane carrying a Russian ice hockey team crashed shortly after takeoff near the city of Yaroslavl on Wednesday, killing 36 of the 37 people on board, officials and news agencies said.

The Yak-42 aircraft was headed from the city north of Moscow to Minsk in Belarus when it crashed, an official at state aviation agency Rosaviatsia said. The official said 36 people were killed and one was injured.

The plane was carrying members of a Continental Hockey League (KHL) hockey team based in Yaroslavl, Lokomotiv, to a match in Minsk, Belarus, state-run RIA news agency cited a regional Emergency Situations Ministry official as saying.

Interfax cited a security official as saying the plane caught fire after the crash near the airport.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered Transport Minister Igor Levitin to travel to the site.

The crash occurred while Russia was hosting an international political forum in Yaroslavl that President Dmitry Medvedev was expected to address this week.