Polish president killed in plane crash

A plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski and a group of the ruling elite crashed in the Russian city of Smolensk on Saturday, killing all 96 people on board.
Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and his wife were on board the plane that crashed in the western Russian city of Smolensk on Saturday. (Photo credit Yonhap news agency) Russian officials said there were no survivors on the Soviet-era Tupolev, which was taking the president, his wife and staff to events marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police.

National Bank President Slawomir Skrzypek and Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer were also on the plane, the Polish Foreign Ministry said.
“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,” Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman, Piotr Paszkowski, said.
“We can assume with great certainty that all persons on board have been killed,” he added.
“The Polish presidential plane did not make it to the runway while landing. Tentative findings indicate that it hit the treetops and fell apart,” regional governor Sergei Anufriev said on state news channel Rossiya-24.
The plane crashed in thick fog about 2 km from the airport in the western Russian region of Smolensk.
Reports speculate that pilot error was a possible reason for the plane crash. A spokesman for the Smolensk local government told news agencies, “The pilot was advised to land in Minsk, but decided to land in Smolensk.”
Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev offered condolences to Poland and vowed a thorough probe of the crash. (From news reports)