Crashed US plane had 3 Russians, State Dept confirms to Russian Embassy

Three Russian nationals died in the recent plane crash in Washington DC, the Russian Embassy in the US said in a statement, the Russian state media reported on Saturday.

The statement was based on a confirmation from the US Department of State according to TASS.

"The US Department of State has officially confirmed that our compatriots were among the passengers in the plane crash that occurred on January 29 in the skies above Washington, when a military helicopter collided with a passenger plane: world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov of the Russian national team in pairs figure skating and figure skater," the statement cited by the Russian state media read.

The Russian nationals "lived permanently in the USA and worked as coaches in American figure skating clubs," the Russian Mission said.

Shishkova and Naumov, who were married to each other, won the world championships in pairs figure skating in 1994 and they also competed at two Winter Olympics

Sixty-four people, including four crew, aboard a commercial airliner of American Airlines died Wednesday night after it collided with a military Black Hawk helicopter midair near Reagan Washington National Airport. It crashed into the Potomac River.

Previously, US President Donald Trump confirmed that there were Russian nationals among those killed.

The American Eagle Flight 5342 was travelling from Wichita to Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, just over the Washington line, according to American Airlines.

Remains of 41 victims have been recovered, the DC fire chief said Friday as per CBC News.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the crew of the military aircraft were from the Bravo Company 12th Aviation Battalion at Fort Belvoir, an army base in Virginia that's about 14 miles away from the airport.

The Russian embassy in the US has launched a 24-hour hotline for the families of the deceased in order to provide them with the necessary consular and legal assistance, TASS reported.

Earlier TASS cited Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying at a news briefing that three people among those killed in the crash held Russian passports, and information regarding another passenger is being verified. According to Zakharova, Shishkova and Naumov, and a Soviet figure skater, Inna Volyanskaya, who worked as coaches in the United States were on board the crashed passenger plane.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading an investigation into the disaster, NBC reported adding that the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Army will also be involved in the investigation.

All of the black boxes from the plane and the helicopter have been recovered, the NTSB confirmed.