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Polish presidential plane was in flames before crash: witness

PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea 07.06.2017 09:23
The Polish presidential plane which crashed in Smolensk, western Russia, in 2010 was already in flames ahead of impact, a Russian witness has been reported as saying.
The wreckage of the presidential plane in 2010. Photo: Wikimedia CommonsThe wreckage of the presidential plane in 2010. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

According to the Gazeta Polska weekly and the Telewizja Republika broadcaster, the witness saw “flames coming out of the side” of the plane ahead of the crash on 10 April 2010, which killed all 96 people on board including Polish President Lech Kaczyński.

“I was walking towards the airport in the morning,” a video shows the man saying.

“At first there was a very thick fog, but it had started to thin out, and then I heard a plane flying. A moment later I saw it; it was flying and burning, there were flames coming out of the side of the plane. And then I heard a crash and there was silence,” the unnamed witness was shown as saying.

The Niezależna website said that Russian investigators have not heard the man's testimony despite having conducted an official probe into the crash.

The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party in Poland, headed by the twin of the late president, launched a new investigation into the crash after coming to power in late 2015.

PiS had long challenged an official report into the disaster issued by the previous Polish government, which cited a catalogue of errors on the Polish side while also pointing to errors made by Russian staff at the control tower of Smolensk Military Airport.

A Russian report placed all the blame on the Poles.

The current Polish commission probing the crash has suggested that the plane was probably destroyed by a mid-air explosion.

(rg/pk)

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