Polish President killed in plane crash

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

96 dead

 

Poland has suffered its worst political disaster since the second world war after its president, Lech Kaczynski, and dozens of top government officials were killed when their plane crashed in thick fog in western Russia this morning.

 

At least 96 people died when the Tupulov aircraft clipped some trees on its approach to Smolensk airport. It then broke up, killing everyone on board. Russian TV showed pictures of the upended wing and smouldering fuselage.

 

Those killed included Kaczynski's wife Maria, the army chief of staff, the head of the national bank, Poland's deputy foreign minister, three members of parliament, and at least two presidential aides, the Polish foreign ministry said. Rescuers today said they had found several bodies and were trying to identify them.

 

Kaczynski had been flying to Smolensk to attend the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, where Soviet secret police executed 15,000 Polish officers in one of the most notorious incidents of the second world war. In a further tragic twist, family members of the Katyn victims were on board the president's plane. Others were waiting at the airport to meet him.

 

"We still cannot fully understand the scope of this tragedy and what it means for us in the future. Nothing like this has ever happened in Poland," Russia's foreign ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski said. "We can assume with great certainty that all persons on board have been killed."

 

Russian officials said that the airport, 270 miles west of Moscow, had been closed because of thick fog. They advised the pilot to land at Moscow or Minsk instead, but he continued with the original flight plan – making three abortive attempts to land at Smolensk's Severny military airport.

[Frosty Jack]

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[MFletcher]

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Edited April 11, 2010 by MFletcher