[ Misterioso incidente aereo ieri sera attorno alle 19:30 in Ungheria,
con strage di soldati ed altro personale slovacco della KFOR di
rientro dal Kosovo. Le vittime sarebbero 42, ma le versioni, a più di
mezza giornata dall'incidente, continuano a divergere (vedi sotto). I
media ed i portali online italiani non riportano nemmeno la notizia -
cosa incredibile visto che si tratta di un grave incidente aereo, e
della morte di circa un terzo delle truppe slovacche impegnate in
Kosovo. In ogni caso, un tributo troppo alto da pagare per un piccolo
paese come la Slovacchia, costretto dalle "compatibilità" UE e NATO a
partecipare alla discutibile missione coloniale in atto in Kosovo. (a
cura di I. Slavo) ]


Misterious airplane crash kills several Slovak KFOR troops

LINK: News Agency of the Slovak republic

http://www.tasr.sk/indeng.php

---

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4629890.stm
Last Updated: Friday, 20 January 2006, 06:43 GMT

Slovak plane crash leaves 42 dead

Forty-two people died when a Slovakian military aircraft came down in
a remote mountain area in northern Hungary.

Only one person survived when the Soviet-designed An-24 crashed near
Telkibanya on the Slovak border.

The plane was carrying Slovak peacekeeping troops from Pristina in
Kosovo to Kosice in Slovakia.

It crashed at about 1930 (1830 GMT) on Thursday. Originally the death
toll was given as 44, but it was revised downwards by the Slovak
authorities.

The heavily wooded mountainside where the plane came down and bitter
winter temperatures contributed to the destruction and hampered rescue
efforts, officials added.

"It's minus 18 degrees Celsius here. The plane's fuselage is
completely burnt out. It is absolutely inconceivable that there could
be other survivors," said Hungarian chief police spokesman Laszlo
Garamvolgyi.

The sole survivor was critically injured in a Slovakian hospital and
was not expected to survive, Mr Garamvolgyi added.

The wife of one of the Slovak soldiers on board, Michaela Farkasova,
told Slovak television that her husband called her shortly after the
crash.

"He told me that the aircraft had crashed and was on fire and was
somewhere in the forest. He told me that he was alive and to alert the
rescue services and police. Then the line went dead."

Grim search

According to the Hungarian Disaster Management Agency, the plane
sliced through the tops of trees before crashing.

It then caught fire and emergency crews battled to put out the blaze.

Helicopters were reportedly unable to reach the crash site, and
wreckage and bodies were scattered over a wide area.

A spokesman for the Hungarian interior ministry, Tibor Dobson, said
the aircraft burst into flames as it approached the border.

"We are trying to piece together the bodies of the victims which were
scattered over a very large area," he said.

"It's very grim."

Slovakia has some 100 troops stationed in Kosovo as part of the
Nato-led peacekeeping force.

---

http://www.afp.fr/english/news/stories/060120002313.2uq9uow4.html

Slovak military plane crashes in Hungary, killing 16: ministry
20/01/2006 00h23

BUDAPEST (AFP) - A Slovak military plane with 45 people on board
crashed in northeastern Hungary, killing at least 16 people, interior
ministry spokesman Tibor Dobson told AFP, revising down a previous
toll of 44.

He said there was at least one survivor, who an emergency services
spokesman said was in critical condition and taken to the hospital of
Kosice, on the Slovakian side of the border.

"We know of at least 16 dead and at least one survivor so far," Dobson
said, adding that rescue efforts were being slowed because the wooded
area where the crash took place was difficult to access by vehicles.

Dobson said the AN-24 military plane, which was en route from Kosovo
to Slovakia carrying Slovak peacekeeping troops, burst into flames at
the crash site near Telkibanya, close to the border with Slovakia.

Dobson said there were 45 people on board including eight crew members.

Slovakian defence sources meanwhile reported there were 43 people on
board, adding that between 10 and 16 people had died.

Hungarian news reports said the plane had crashed into a mountain, but
Dobson could not confirm this.

More than 10 ambulances raced to the scene of the crash, emergency
services spokesman Pal Gyorfi told AFP.

"Our staff are searching for the plane passengers," Gyorfi said.

He said the search and rescue effort was being slowed by the difficult
terrain.

Helping in the rescue efforts were border guards as well as 100
military troops dispatched from two nearby Hungarian bases.

Several Slovak ambulance cars and firefighters were also given
permission to enter Hungary and access the crash site.

Slovakia convened an emergency cabinet meeting after learning of the
crash.

"It is a great misfortune but I do not want to comment on the number
of victims," Slovakian defence minister Gjuraj Liska said after the
emergency meeting.

Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany personally informed his
Slovak counterpart Mikulas Dzurinda about the accident.

The plane was carrying Slovak troops from Pristina, where they were
serving as peacekeepers, to Kosice in Slovakia, defence ministry
spokesman Istvan Bocskai said.

He said the plane disappeared off the radar screen at 1938 local time
(1838 GMT) and was noticed by both Hungarian and Slovak air traffic
controllers.

"Slovakia immediately dispatched a rescue helicopter to the area,
where they saw fire," Bocskai told AFP.

Bocskai said the Hungarian defence ministry's troops at the scene
included reconnaissance teams as well as soldiers equipped with night
vision glasses to aid in the rescue effort overnight.