American artistic skaters were aboard the crushed plane

American artistic skaters were among the passengers aboard an airplane that struck a helicopter over Washington DC on Wednesday evening.

“Several” athletes, coaches and family members involved in American figure skating were on the flight, said the American director of sport in a statement.

The Russian citizens were also on board, confirmed the Kremlin – after the local media reported that the ice skate coaches and the former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naunov were on the plane.

US officials have not made a number of victims, although a source of application of the law told the American BBC partner, CBS News, that at least 19 bodies had been found in the icy river of Potomac.

The plane carried 64 passengers and the crew when he collided in the air with an American army helicopter just after 9:00 p.m., local time on Wednesday (02:00 GMT), then fell into the water.

Up to 15 people on the flight may have been involved in figure skating, said an unnamed source at the Reuters news agency.

The declaration of American figure skating confirmed that “several members of our skating community were unfortunately aboard the American Airlines 5342 flight”.

The group returned home from a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, added the press release.

Wichita welcomed the national American figure skating championships from January 20 to January 26. After the competition, there was a development camp for young skaters.

It was not confirmed whether or not the former Russian skaters were at the same event.

Without specifying names, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the “sadness of information” that Russian citizens were on the flight – after the Russian news agency who appointed Shishkova and Naumov.

The married couple are Russian piercators with retired who won the world championships in 1994. They also participated in the Olympic Games. They are now working as coaches in the United States.

Inna Volyanskaya, a former skater for the Soviet Union, was also on board the flight, according to the Russian news agency Tass.

The rescue teams continue to search the icy waters of the Potomac river where the remains of the two planes remain.

National airport near Ronald Reagan Washington has anchored all flights.

In addition to the non -disclosed number of individuals associated with American figure skating and the two Russian artistic skaters, there is limited information on individuals on board.

In 1961, the American figure skating team of 18 people was killed in a plane crash in Belgium on their way to Prague.