Reports are coming of a plane carrying the Polish president Lech Kaczynski and his wife has crashed in Russia killing all passengers.

Initial reports had said that at least 87 people were killed in the crash but officials have confirmed that all passengers on the plain heading to an airport in Smolensk a Western city in Russia have been killed.

Reports also say that the Chief of General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces and the Polish central bank governor was also on the plain.

Lech Kaczynski and his wife were due to visit the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, in which thousands of Poles were killed by Russian troops in the Soviet era.

The Polish Foreign Ministry also confirmed that the Polish president Lech Kaczynski was on board the plain the crashed at 10:56AM local time.

The Tupolev Tu-154 model plain is thought to have crashed in foggy weather but no official comment has come from the Polish or Russian government.

The Tupolev Tu-154, a Soviet era built plain is banned in many airports around the world.

Source: nationalturk.com/

Polish President dies in plane crash

Eighty-seven people including Polish President Lech Kaczynski died when a plane flying from Warsaw crashed near its intended destination in the Russian city of Smolensk, Itar-Tass news agency reported, citing the Russian Emergencies Ministry.

The incident happened in thick fog as the aircraft came in to land.


Source: timesofmalta.com/

Plane crash 'carrying Polish president' kills 87 people

Reports from Moscow say a plane carrying the Polish president Lech Kaczynski has crashed in western Russia and at least 87 people have been killed.

Russian media and the foreign Polish ministry is alleged to have said the president and his wife were on board the plane at the time, and it is not yet known whether there has been any survivors.

It is believed the plane crashed this morning near the city of Smolensk, killing 87 people.

Mr Kaczynski was due to visit the city to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre; during which Russian soldiers killed 22,000 Polish prisoners of war 70 years ago.

Source: inthenews.co.uk/

Crash kills scores, Poland’s president

SMOLENSK, Russia - Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife died Saturday along with about 130 other passengers when their plane crashed while coming in for a landing in western Russia, officials said.

The governor of the Smolensk region, where the crash took place about 11 a.m. (3 a.m. ET), said no one survived.

"The Polish presidential plane did not make it to the runway while landing. Tentative findings indicate that it hit the treetops and fell apart," Sergei Anufriev said on state news channel Rossiya-24. "Nobody has survived the disaster."

The Polish foreign ministry confirmed that Kaczynski and his wife were aboard the plane.

The head of Russia's top investigative body, Sergei Markin, said there were a total of 132 people on the plane, a Tu-154.

A Polish government official said the head of the Polish army and the head of the presidential administration were also on board the plane, along with families of other senior officials.

"The plane caught fire after the crash. Teams began attempting to pull out passengers from the badly damaged airplane," said a Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman in Warsaw.

Editor's note: Please check back for details on this breaking news story.

Source: msnbc.msn.com/