Russia bids farewell to Lokomotiv hockey players

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Yaroslavl to bid farewell to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey players, who died in the air crash. Putin visited Lokomotiv's stadium Arena-2000, where the funeral ceremony is taking place.

The head of the Russian government laid two carnations to each photograph of the victims. Afterwards, the prime minister conducted a short meeting with sports specialists at which he discussed the opportunities of how to preserve the Yaroslavl team.

The funeral ceremony at Arena-2000 continued for several hours. Thousands of people came to the stadium to bid farewell to the victims of the deadly air crash, Interfax reports.  Many of them are wearing the hockey jerseys and scarves, Interfax reports.

The two survivors of the plane crash that virtually wiped out the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team remain in critical conditions, a Health Ministry official said on Friday.

Russian national side player Alexander Galimov and crew-member Alexander Sizov survived Wednesday's crash, which killed 43 people. The plane fell to earth shortly after take-off from an airport near Yaroslavl, some 250km north of Moscow.

"There has been no change in Galimov and Sizov's conditions," the official said. "They remain in an extremely grave conditon," RIA Novosti reports.