The only member of the Russian hockey team to survive a plane crash that killed 44 people died Monday of his injuries in a Moscow hospital. The Vishnevsky hospital said 26-year-old Alexander Galimov died of severe burns that covered about 90 percent of his body,despite the best efforts of doctors in its burn unit. The crash on Wednesday of a chartered Yak-42 jet outside the western city of Yaroslavl took the lives of 37 players,coaches and staff of the local Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey club. The only other person to survive,flight crew member Alexander Sizov,remains in intensive care at Moscow's Sklifosovsky hospital. Unlike many other members of Lokomotiv who were European Union citizens and once played in the NHL,Galimov was a native of Yaroslavl and a product of its youth programme. At rallies following the crash,fans chanted Galimov,live for the whole team! and other slogans dedicated to him. All of Yaroslavl,all of the country,all of the world followed the doctors' words,believing,hoping,praying that he would defeat death and remain with us, Yaroslavl Gov. Sergei Vakhrukov said. The governor described Galimov,a forward,as a fan favourite who remained true to his home club for many years. He carried the team spirit of Lokomotiv and through his indomitable character often reversed the course of the most difficult games, Vakhrukov said. The crash,one of the worst ever aviation disasters in sports,shocked all of Russia and the international hockey community. The team was heading to Minsk,Belarus,to play its opening game of the Kontinental Hockey League season when the plane crashed into the Volga River bank shortly after takeoff and burst into flames.
