Polish President Kaczynski dies in plane crash

Polish President Lech Kaczynski died in a plane crash on Saturday as the aircraft was attempting to land in Somolensk, Russia. There were no survivors among the 96 people on board, according to officials on the scene.

Reuters

The television cameras at the scene show  the plane broken into numerous pieces. It crashed a little over a kilometre from the airport in Smolensk. Firefighters rushed to the scene.

Interfax news agency reports that the plane crashed in heavy fog.

Kaczynski's body has been recovered at the crash site, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
 

Among the 96 on board were Kaczynski and his wife; the Polish central bank governor
Slawomir Skrzypek and Polish army chief of staff Franciszek Gagor.

Condolences poured in from all over the world. Russia has announced that Monday would be a national day of mourning.

"In the name of the Russian people, I offer my deepest, truest condolences to the Polish people, feelings of compassion and support for the relatives and loved ones of those killed," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a recorded statement made for broadcast.

Kaczynski was leading a delegation that included members of Polish parliament and historians who were going to comemmorate the victims of the massacre at Katyn.

Some 22,000 Poles were massacred by Soviet troops 70 years ago. Relations between Russia and Poland have been strained until recently, when both sides came together for the first time, vowing to honour the dead on Katyn's 70th anniversary.