World champion Russian pair and US skaters were onboard crashed plane

The Russian-born ice skating coaches and former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were among at least 13 senior skaters and coaches on board the American Airlines plane

that crashed into the Potomac river in Washington DC

Shishkova and Naumov, who were married to each other, won the world championships in pairs figure skating in 1994 and had reportedly lived in the United States since at least 1998, where they trained young ice skaters. The couple were reported to have been returning from the competition and travelling with a group of young skaters.

US Figure Skating, the sport’s domestic governing body, said athletes, coaches and family members were returning from the national development camp held in conjunction with the US figure skating championships in Kansas. Their identities have yet to be confirmed. “We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” it said in a statement.

Russia’s Mash news outlet published a list of 13 skaters, many of them the children of Russian émigrés to the United States, who it said were believed to have been on the plane. Inna Volyanskaya, a former skater who competed for the Soviet Union and was a coach at the Washington figure skating club, was also reported to have been on board.

Tributes were quickly paid across the sporting world as news of the crash emerged. The International Skating Union, the governing body of the sport, said that the global skating community was “deeply shocked by the tragic accident”.

“We are heartbroken to learn that figure skaters, along with their families, friends, and coaches, are understood to be among those on board,” it said. “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy. Figure skating is more than a sport – it’s a close-knit family – and we stand together.”

Several senior International Olympic Committee members, who were gathered in Lausanne for the hustings to choose the next IOC president, also expressed their condolences. Sebastian Coe, the World Athletics president, told reporters: “It would be remiss of me if I didn’t reflect on the awful events last night in the United States. I know there was grievous loss of life across the range, but I’m also deeply conscious there were Olympians and the families of Olympians on that desperate fight. So on behalf of the whole of World Athletics I’d say that our thoughts and prayers with all those families and friends have suffered such a grievous loss.”

Another candidate for IOC president, Juan Samaranch Jnr, added: “The loss of life, of athletes and non-athletes, in the Olympic family and not in the Olympic family, puts everything into perspective. They have my sympathies and we hope for the best.”

In a statement, the Kremlin indicated that Shishkova and Naumov as well as several other Russians had been on board. “There were other of our fellow citizens on board. It’s bad news today from Washington. We are sorry and send our condolences to families and friends,” the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The American figure skater Luke Wang also wrote on social media that several skaters were on board the plane. “We pray for everyone who was on the flight from Wichita to DC. Among the passengers were skaters and coaches,” he added. “It’s absolutely heartbreaking.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash occurred around 9pm when a regional jet collided with the military helicopter while on approach to an airport runway.