A chartered jet carrying Russia's major league ice hockey team Lokomotiv has crashed on take-off near the central city of Yaroslavl, with 43 deaths.
Two people survived with serious injuries after the disaster, which saw the jet burst into flames shortly after leaving an airport near the city.
It appears many of the team were aboard, heading to Belarus for the season's first match.
Russian reports suggest the jet may have struck a radio mast.
Witnesses saw it burst into flames shortly after taking off from the airport, about 250km (160 miles) north-east of Moscow. Some of the wreckage and bodies fell in the nearby River Volga.
A number of foreign citizens were killed, including the team's Canadian coach, Brad McCrimmon, and Swedish goalie Stefan Liv.
Russian player Alexander Galimov survived the crash with 80% burns along with a member of the crew. Russian media briefly reported the player had died of his injuries, but a medical source later told the Russian news website Sovetsky Sport he was still alive.
The chairman of the board of directors of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Vyacheslav Fetisov, described the air disaster as an "irreparable loss for world ice hockey".
Ice hockey is the team sport of choice for many Russian men, more so than football.
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