Russian skaters among victims in Washington air crash: Kremlin comments

The downed plane was reported to have 1994 world figure skating champions - Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov on board, according to Reuters, citing the Russian TASS agency. They represented the Soviet Union and Russia in pair skating competitions.

American figure skater John Maravilla informed the agency that at least 14 athletes were on board, not counting coaches and relatives. Sports agent Ari Zakaryan explained that there were figure skaters and former Russian coaches on board the plane.

The sad news has been confirmed that Russian figure skaters and other citizens were on board the plane that crashed in Washington, as reported by Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for Vladimir Putin of Russia.

- Unfortunately, we see that these sad information is being confirmed – he said, commenting on reports that Russian figure skaters were on board the plane. - There were other of our fellow citizens there. Bad news from Washington today – emphasized Putin's press secretary.

According to Russian media, Inna Volyanskaya, a former skater, was also on board. She was currently coaching at a Washington figure skating club.

The air disaster occurred on Thursday evening near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the plane crashed into the Potomac River. A Bombardier CRJ700 plane collided with a military Black Hawk helicopter.

According to media reports, bodies of 19 victims were retrieved from the Potomac River near Washington, but rescuers have not yet found any survivors. There were 64 people on board the plane. The aircraft broke into two parts, with debris scattered over the water. The river also contains the helicopter, which was likely on a training flight. It had three soldiers on board, but there was no high-ranking command personnel among them.