Olympic silver medalist Nancy Kerrigan cried openly as she remembered her ice skating colleagues who were aboard the doomed American Airlines passenger jet that collided mid-air with an army helicopter Wednesday, killing all 67 people on board both aircrafts.
Kerrigan is an alumna of the Skating Club of Boston, which lost two teenage students, two coaches, and two parents in the crash.
The Associated Press reported, "Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zeghibe said Thursday that skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane were among those killed, along with 1994 pairs world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov of Russia. In all, 14 of the victims were coming back from a national development camp for promising young skaters following the U.S. Championships in Wichita, Kansas, Zeghibe said."
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"Much like everyone here has been saying, not sure how to process it," a tearful Kerrigan said at a news conference in Boston. "We just wanted to be here and be part of our community."
She continued, "I don't know how? You look at people going through tragedies and you wonder, how do they do it? I don't know, but we're so strong. Somehow, we have a reservoir to take from, and each one are strong enough to get through this somehow. It will take time, but, look beside you -- there's somebody that cares. And tell people around you that you love them."
Kerrigan won the silver medal in women's figure skating during the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
Recovery efforts continued Thursday afternoon on the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport where the aircraft went down. Investigators are working to determine the cause of the collision.