Pavol Demitra - Death

Death

The 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash occurred on 7 September 2011, at 4:02 PM local time, when a Yakovlev Yak-42 passenger aircraft, carrying the entire hockey team of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), crashed near Yaroslavl, Russia, on its way to Minsk, Belarus, to start the 2011–12 KHL season.

The club's entire roster was killed in the plane crash. The airplane caught fire and crashed shortly after take-off, a mere 4 kilometers from the Tunoshna airport. Preliminary reports said that 43 of the 45 passengers on board had been killed, including the entire roster and 4 youth players, and that the remaining one, Alexander Galimov, was in critical condition. However, Galimov died a few days later. Demitra's agent, Matt Keator, confirmed his client's death.

Demitra is survived by his wife Maja and two children, Lucas and Zara. He was predeceased by his infant son, Tobias.

Following his death, the elementary school in Dubnica nad Váhom, which he had attended, and the ice hockey stadium in Trenčín, where he started his successful career together with famous Slovak ice players Zdeno Chára, Marián Hossa, Marcel Hossa, and Marián Gáborík were named after him.

Read more about this topic:  Pavol Demitra

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