President of Poland - Lech Kaczynski Dies in Plane Crash in Russia

Eugene Moodubelle
From Different Media Sources

 

Moscow, 10 April 2010: Lech Kaczynski, the President of Poland and his wife were among 87 people killed when a plane carrying them crashed in dense fog in south-western Russian region of Smolensk on Saturday, 10th  April 2010.

The Presidential plane crashed about 300 metres from the runway after hitting tree tops in dense fog, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said. The Polish government official in Smolensk said there was no information about survivors. The crash occurred about 1.5 km (a mile) from Smolensk airport in foggy conditions. The Smolensk regional governor, Sergei Antufiev, said the plane clipped treetops as it approached to land at an airport outside Smolensk and crashed, breaking into several pieces.

Russian television broadcast live footage showing the plane’s wreckage scattered in a forest with parts of it still on fire.

Russian news agencies reported there were at least 80 people aboard the plane -- some reports said there were as many as 132 people on board and Antufiev said no one had survived.

Kaczynski was flying with a delegation to take part in the 70th anniversary of the Katyn memorial ceremonies at the site where Polish military officers were executed on the orders of Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin during the Second World War. The official said the head of the Polish army and the head of the presidential administration were also on board the plane, along with the president’s wife and families of other senior officials including the Deputy Finance Minister of Poland.

Lech Kaczynski was born in a Roman Catholic family on 18th June 1949 at Warsaw, the capital of Poland. He was educated in the Warsaw University  and acquired Ph.D. degree from the University of Gdansk in 1976 and later became a Professor in the same University and later in Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University, Warsaw. Lech Kaczynski was the Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 to 23-Dec-2005 and Minister of Justice in the Polish Government from June 2000 to July 2001. He became the president of Poland on  23rd December 2005 and continued till his tragic death on 10th April 2010.