78 killed In Ukraine Airshow Disaster
 |
| The Su-27 plane crashed into crowds |
KIEV,
Ukraine, July 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - At least 78
people were killed on Saturday, July 27, when a Ukrainian airforce
Sukhoi Su-27 jet crashed into crowds watching an aerobatics display at
Lviv in the west of the country, the emergencies ministry said.
In
an updated toll, ministry official Ivan Gayduk said seven children
were among the dead and that 115 people were injured, 70 of them
seriously, agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
The
accident occurred in the town of Sknyliv, near Lviv, when the
low-flying jet touched another plane on the ground, ministry official
Grigori Marchenko told AFP.
The
twin-engined plane then burrowed into the stands and exploded in
flames, sending debris sailing into a crowd of thousands who were
watching the fly-by of participating aircraft.
Injured
survivors including a number of children were rushed to hospital after
being hit by the flying remains.
Marchenko
earlier told Interfax news agency that the Sukhoi Su-27 jet clipped
another aircraft during a manoeuver at 12:45 pm (0945 GMT) and
tailspinned to the ground.
He
said the two pilots ejected from the plane and were alive but did not
say whether they suffered injuries.
The
pilots, who were not identified, were experienced flyers who had
already performed for Ukraine at an international air show in Le
Bourget, outside Paris.
The
government has ordered a fact-finding committee to investigate the
cause of the crash. The committee will be headed by Evhen Marchuk,
secretary of the Ukraine's national security council.
An
initial comment by a minister official quoted on Gazeta.ru indicated
that an engine failure might have been responsible for the crash.
Ukrainian
President Leonid Kuchma broke off his vacation in Crimea to fly to the
crash site.
His
Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin sent his condolences, said a
Kremlin spokesman cited by Interfax.
Four
bodies were taken to a local morgue while 62 other bodies were still
at the Sknyliv airfield where the tragedy happened, ministry official
Sergei Savinov said.
Seconds
after the crash, images taken on a video camera showed injured people
covered in blood and screaming for help, surrounded by lifeless bodies
that littered the tarmac.
It
was the deadliest such accident in 14 years, following the death of 70
people at a 1988 air show on a U.S. military base in Ramstein, then
West Germany, when three planes collided.
In
another major air show crash, 10 people were killed and 54 were
injured in Ostende, Belgium when a Jordanian trick plane burrowed into
a Red Cross stand.
The
Su-27, which was introduced in 1984, is the precursor to a generation
of Su-27UB fighter jets rolled out the following year. It weighs 16
tones when empty, 25 tones when fully loaded and can reach speeds of
up to 2,500 kilometers per hour (1,500 miles per hour).
The
crash is the third major toll-taking disaster in Ukraine this month
following two accidents in southeastern mines.
A
July 7 fire in a mine in the Donetsk region left 35 dead. Two weeks
later, on July 21, six others were killed in methane blast in a
Dniepropetrovsk region mine.
|
