Warsaw: Polish President Lech Kaczynski, a great admirer of India, was killed on April 10, 2010, with his wife Maria and 130 others including almost all his aides when their aircraft crashed in foggy weather while landing in Russia, officials said.
The disaster, which plunged Poland into grief, occurred when the Russian-built Tupolev 154-M reportedly struck some trees, caught fire and broke up as it approached the airport in Smolensk city in western Russia.
The president and his delegation, which included Polish National Bank president Slawmir Skrzpek, was going to Russia to take part in an official ceremony in Katyn, where 20,000 Poles were slaughtered by Soviet forces during World War II.
Image: This image from Polish Television's TVP via APTN shows a firefighter walking near some of the wreckage at the crash site where Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and some of the country's most prominent military and civilian leaders died on April 10, 2010.
Text: IANS
Images: AP
