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Family, friends gather at Kaczynski crash site in Russia

Other News Materials 9 April 2011 17:17 (UTC +04:00)
Friends and relatives of the 96 Polish officials - among them former president Lech Kaczynski - who died in a plane crash in western Russia a year ago gathered Saturday at the site of the accident to commemorate the victims
Family, friends gather at Kaczynski crash site in Russia

Friends and relatives of the 96 Polish officials - among them former president Lech Kaczynski - who died in a plane crash in western Russia a year ago gathered Saturday at the site of the accident to commemorate the victims, reported DPA.

Standing by the ruins of the plane, about 100 people braved snow and rain to pray for their loved ones at the Smolensk airport.

The mourners were accompanied by Anna Komorowska, the wife of President Bronislaw Komorowski, who succeeded Kaczynski as president.

"Destiny cannot be changed. Time cannot be turned back," said Komorowska. However, people can pray together and rely upon one another for help, she said.

Polish television broadcast the ceremony live. The names of all 96 victims were read aloud.

Wreaths from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin were laid at a memorial stone near the crash site.

Kaczynski's plane crashed upon landing in heavy fog on April 10, 2010. The delegation was on its way to a memorial service for victims of a massacre of Polish soldiers and leaders at the hands of Soviet soldiers in 1940.

Due to a domestic political row, not all relatives of the deceased attended the ceremony. People with ties to Kaczynski's conservative Law and Order Party, led by the dead president's twin brother, Jaroslaw, opted to boycott the event.

Further commemorations - as well as protests against what some see as a poorly executed Russian investigation into the accident - were expected to take place on Sunday.

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