A sea of candles as Poles mourn president killed in plane crash

By Mail Foreign Service

Tide of sorrow: Warsaw residents place candles at the gate of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland following the tragic crash of the presidential plane near Smolensk in Russia


A sea of candles glowed outside Poland's presidential palace last night as the body of president Lech Kaczynski arrived home.

He was killed with his wife Maria and 94 other members of the country's elite when their plane crashed in Russia on Saturday.

Throughout the staunchly Roman Catholic country, millions flocked to churches to pay their respects to the victims. The scenes echoed those after the death of Polish-born Pope John Paul II nearly five years ago.

Kaczynski's body was flown into Warsaw's military airport after a farewell ceremony attended by Russian dignitaries including Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

In Warsaw, the president's twin brother Jaroslaw, a former prime minister, knelt on the tarmac and pressed his head against the flag-draped coffin. A solemn tribute was also paid by his devastated only child - daughter Marta.

Acting President Bronislaw Komorowski, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and other senior Polish officials were also there to pay their respects during a short religious ceremony.

Tens of thousands of mourners stood in silence along the hearse's six-mile route to the palace.


Respects: Polish Army soldiers salute the coffin carrying the late Polish President Lech Kaczynski in Warsaw, Poland


In a moving mark of respect, church bells pealed at noon and emergency sirens shrieked for nearly a minute before fading into silence. Hundreds bowed their heads, eyes closed, in front of the presidential palace. Buses and trams halted in the streets.

No date for a funeral has been set.

The presidential jet, carrying many of Poland's political and military leaders, crashed in western Russia as it was trying to land at a military airbase in thick fog.

Also among the dead were Poland's army chief of staff, the navy chief commander, and heads of the air and land forces.

The jet's passengers had been bound for a 70th anniversary memorial service for the 22,000 leading Poles massacred by Stalin's secret police in the Katyn forest during the Second World War, a historic wound which has still not healed.


Devastation: The daughter of President Lech Kaczynski, Marta, and his twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski pay their respects in front of his coffin today


As intensive investigations went on, questions were being asked about why the jet's two experienced air force pilots ignored repeated advice from Russian ground control to take the Tupolev 154 to another airport. At least one other plane had already been diverted.

Russian officials say pilots ignored warnings that they were flying too low.

Experts say the crew may have been ordered to press on with the landing by the president or a senior military commander on board.

A government source admitted that Kaczynski would have suffered political embarrassment if he had missed the Katyn ceremony. He was said to have seen the trip as the unofficial start of his campaign for a presidential election.

Polish aviation sources said Kaczynski had a record of being 'demanding' with his plane's pilots.


Respects: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Polish Ambassador in Moscow Jerzy Bahr place a flower on the coffin at Smolensk airport


Russian soldiers escort members of the Polish army who carry the flag-draped casket during a farewell ceremony at the airport of Smolensk, Russia


A Polish man mourns at the site where Polish government Tupolev Tu-154 plane crashed near Smolensk airport


London-based Polish parish priest Reverend Canon Bronislaw Gostomski was also revealed to have perished in the crash.

More than 400 Polish people attended a Saturday evening service at his parish church St Andrew Bobola in Hammersmith, west London.

The Queen led the British tributes to the President and other victims of the crash.

The Prince of Wales also expressed his sadness, along with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Tory leader David Cameron.


'A black day for Poland': The death toll included the country's President and wife, its central bank head and the country's military chief along with other senior government and military figures


In pieces: The wreckage of the Polish president's plane lies in woodland near Smolensk airport in Russia


Wreckage: The fuselage of the plane lies in woodland near Smolensk airport
Despite bad weather being blamed for the crash, analysts said there would inevitably be speculation in Poland that the Russians were somehow involved.


It was not the first time the presidential plane - a 26-year-old Russian-made Tupolev-154 - had encountered difficulties.

It had been grounded during a state visit to Mongolia 16 months ago owing to technical problems, leaving the Polish leader to charter a private jet for the next stage of his tour to Japan.

There have been 16 crashes involving Tupolev-154s since 1994, killing 1,727 people, and Poles have been asking why their president was using an aircraft with such a poor safety record rather than fly with the Polish state airline LOT whose entire fleet is Western-made.

The Tupolev clipped the tops of trees as it tried to land at Smolensk, lurching sideways and breaking into pieces. Wreckage including engines and a large part of the red and white tail were strewn over a forest less than a mile from the runway.

Radio communication with the plane had been lost just before 8am yesterday.



source: dailymail