Polish president, 96 others killed in plane crash

Crikey...

so sad :(

What happened? Assassination?

Jim Sciutto of ABC News tweets that "Dense fog at airport, plane crashed on 4th approach. Pilot advised to divert to diff airport." He also notes that the government had put off upgrading to a new plane from Brazil as planned.

Its very sad. This is no way for a president and other important people of a country to die just like that!

Sad news.

I am Polish-American and have ties to relatives in the country of my grandparents. This is a very sad day.

Wow... what a horrible accident. Here's hoping that if there is any good to come of this, Russia and Poland will become closer.

I'm Polish, and this is extremely sad day for my nation. It's not only that we lost Our President, the Head of State, but also many important Polish politicians died toady - Senators, Parliament Members and Speakers, Heads of Our Army, Heads of Catholic Church, Head of Polish National Bank... 89 the most important people in Poland... I do believe that my country has never been so sad, weak and united ever before...

What a terrible tragedy for the people of Poland. A real shock! All of the Polish people that I have ever met have been strong-willed and proud of their country. They will get though this difficult time just fine.

I hope that this tragedy will be a catalyst that will help Poland and Russia to reconcile and improve their relations (which, ironically, they were doing by attending this commemoration). Lets hope those peoples' deaths were not in vain. Of course, this wont stop all the nuts from saying that Russia did it.

Unless proved otherwise this is simply a very horrific plane crash. It's terribly painful hearing that so many of them were political leaders, lawmakers, and other important heads for Poland. It's like seeing a country having its head cut off.

Yeah, so sad. :( I feel sorry for all the people who lost their parents and grandparents in this crash...Why did it happen??? Hopefully we can get to know that sooner or later.

Tragedy. I'm surprised they would put so many prominent people on the same plane.

Why the ancient Tu 154 instead of something modern? Why such a stubborn and irresponsible pilot? The Russians warned them time afer time to divert and land in Minsk or Moscow for the fog, but the pilot persisted. No, it was not an assassination - just plain stupidity. Let us hope that Poland has not yet perished. I am genuinely sad and sorry for Poland, as I,too, have connection to her. Zannen deshita.

I'm surprised they would put so many prominent people on the same plane..

They were trying to save money for one plane instead of spending more for separate ones.

My condolences to everyone...

@saintyukio: I wouldn't say it was a plain stupidity. The plane and the officials were almost late for the celebrations of the Katyń massacre and probably they didn't want to be late and hence did land in Smolensk instead of a 400 km-away Minsk or Moscow. The pilot had a great experience – the Russians did warn him but they were not able to stop a government plane from landing.

Has Poland perished? Let me give you an answer, citing the first two verses of our national anthem Mazurek Dąbrowskiego — "Poland has not perished yet/So long as we still live."