Yaroslavl Lokomotiv crash survivor dies of burns

The sole member of the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv ice hockey team to survive last week's air crash in western Russia died of his injuries on Monday, the medical centre that treated him said.

Alexander Galimov, along with a crew member, were found alive after the Yak-42 jet carrying the team to a match in Belarus came down on the banks of a river shortly after take-off last Wednesday, killing 43 people.

However, he received burns to 80 per cent of his body and succumbed to his injuries on Monday.

"We did everything we could do to change the course of events and to save his life, but unfortunately what we were dealing with were deadly burns," said Andrei Alexeyev, head of the burn centre at Vishnevsky Surgery Institute.

Other victims included three Czech world champions, Jan Marek, Karel Rachunek and Josef Vasicek, Swedish goaltender Stefan Liv and Canadian coach Brad McCrimmon.

The crash was the latest in a string of transport disasters that has forced Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev to order overhauls of air and water transport.

Ahead of a parliamentary election in December and a presidential poll next year, in which he has hinted he may run for a second term, Medvedev has demanded a rapid reduction in the number of domestic airlines and said Russia may have to buy more foreign airplanes to improve safety.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin led tens of thousands of people to pay their last respects to the team last Saturday.