Slovak News Back to the news
Govt Declares Day of Mourning Sunday for Polish Victims of Plane Crash
Wednesday 14 April 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, April 14 (TASR) - Slovakia's Government on Wednesday declared a day of state mourning over the Polish victims of Saturday's air crash near Smolensk between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for this Sunday (April 18).
President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria Kaczynska and another 94 people died in the plane crash. Apart from the presidential couple, there were many Poland VIPs, namely members of parliament, head of the national bank, the supreme command of the Polish military, church dignitaries, presidential aides and other political and cultural figures.
The delegation was headed for the Katyn forest in Russia to mark the 70th anniversary of the massacre of some 20,000 Polish officers by Soviet security forces. The plane, which crashed Saturday morning during a landing near the Russia air field in Smolensk, also carried bereaved family members of the Katyn massacre.
The public mourning ceremony for the plane-crash victims will take place Saturday, April 17 at Pilsudski Square in Warsaw. The presidential couple will be buried Sunday in the crypt of the cathedral at the former royal castle Wawel in Krakow.
All rights reserved. Any publishing or further dissemination of press releases and photographs from TASR's resources without TASR's prior written approval constitutes a violation of the Copyrights Act.
