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Slovakia Mourns Victims of Polish Plane Crash, Flags Flying at Half-mast
Sunday 18 April 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, April 18 (TASR) - Slovakia is holding a state of mourning on Sunday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and flags are flying at half-mast to commemorate the victims of the plane crash on Saturday, April 10 that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his spouse Maria and another 94 representatives of Poland's government, army and clergy.
All nation-wide television channels have left out entertainment programmes from their schedules, with live broadcasts of the funeral of the presidential couple aired by the state-run Slovak Television (STV) and news-only channel TA3.
This is the fifth instance of a state of mourning in Slovakia. The day of state mourning was declared by Slovakia's Government on Wednesday.
The airplane, which crashed during a landing near the Russian air field in Smolensk, 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.
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