7 die, 31 survive as two planes crash in mid-air
Reuters
Debris of two sport planes that crashed over western Slovakia lie near the village
of Cerveny Kamen.
Over western Slovakia, killing seven people, officials said.
Two planes carrying dozens of parachutists collided in mid-air on
Thursday over western Slovakia, killing seven people, officials said.
Thirty-one others on board survived by jumping out with their
parachutes.
The crash took place on Thursday morning near the village of Cerveny
Kamen, said Zuzana Farkasova, a spokeswoman for the Slovak
fire-fighters.
Rescue workers used helicopters to reach the forested crash site in the
White Carpathians mountain range that forms the border with the Czech
Republic.
The two Czech-made L-410 transport planes collided at an altitude of
1,500 meters, said Juraj Denes, an official with the Slovak Air and
Naval Investigations Bureau, a government agency that investigates plane
crashes.
Peter Bubla, spokesman for the Health Ministry, said 38 people were on
board the two planes and 31 survived. Five people needed some medical
treatment but nobody was hospitalised, he said.
Some on board jumped out even after the planes collided, according to
Interior Minister Robert Kalinak. “The 31 parachutists managed to jump
out from the falling planes and survived,” Mr. Kalinak told the TA3 news
television station as he visited the crash site. “They all landed
safely. It’s a small miracle.”
The dead included the two crew members from both planes and three
parachutists, Juraj Gyenes, another official at the aviation
investigations agency, told TA3. TA3 reported the parachutists were
training for this weekend’s air show in nearby Slavnica. “All of a
sudden, I heard a big blow,” one witness told TASR, the Slovak news
agency, in a news video. “Then it roared. I thought some pieces were
falling, but it could be the parachutists.”
Kalinak and Slovak Health Minister Viliam Cislak visited the crash site,
where wreckage from the planes smouldered among the dense mountain
forest.
COMMENT:- A WILD IDEA-
COMMENT:- A WILD IDEA-
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