Polish Plane Crash Kills Poland President Lech Kaczynski
Poland's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife are likely dead in a plane crash early Saturday at a western Russian airport. Mr. Kaczynski was 60.
There is no hope of finding any survivors in the Polish plane crash. There were 132 passengers on the the Tupolev-154 plane and it was landing in heavy fog.
Poland's Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the plane was approaching the airport at Smolensk, Russia for landing and possibly hit some trees at the end of the runway. The plane caught fire which has been extinguished now but seeing the damage it is unlikely that there are any survivors said the spokesman.
In a written statement on its web site, the Investigation Committee of the Russian prosecutor's office said that the crash took place around 10:50 a.m. (2:50 a.m. ET) on the outskirts of the town of Pechorsk in the Smolensk region.
In his statement offering condolences, the chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, who is also the secretary of state and foreign minister of Kazakhstan, Kanat Saudabayev said, "I offer my deepest condolences to the Polish people and to the families of those killed in this tragic accident. Our hearts go out to you in this difficult time."
Polish President Kaczynski was traveling with his wife, Maria, and delegates from the Polish National Memorial Institute along with the vice-speaker of the Polish Parliament.
