Izvestia: “Russians, Poles work as one family”
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin once again gathered the members of the government commission investigating the causes of the Polish Tu-154 crash on April 10. Experts from both sides reported on their recent findings.
An unprecedented team has been put together to investigate this grave tragedy. The Russian and Polish foreign ministries have offered up their best experts, as have the Russian Health Ministry, Transport Ministry, Emergencies Ministry, Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) and Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO). The international team was big and the language barrier was a problem.
However, both the Russian and Polish experts told Putin yesterday that they were very surprised at how smoothly the work was proceeding. When Putin told the Poles to contact the government in case of any problems, they responded with a phrase that would have sounded most unusual even several days ago.
"Our cooperation by far exceeds the procedures established by the convention on mutual legal assistance," they said. "The Russian side is profoundly sympathetic."
The conversation with Putin was brief, thematic and professional. Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said the work on the ground with the presidential plane's fragments was nearing completion.
"The sketching has been completed," he said. "We have sketches showing the location of the plane's fragments and its engines on the crash site."
A tentative analysis of the information from the on-board recorders and the work on the crash site shows that there were no detonations or fires on board the plane. The plane's engines were functioning properly until the impact with the ground.
Experts continue to synchronise the information from both the cockpit voice and parametric recorders and identify the sounds and noises in the cabin. They will have finished this work by the week's end. It is already possible to transfer the plane's fragments to a guarded site to facilitate the investigators' work.
Tatyana Anodina, the head of the IAC, said another field-measuring instrument was found yesterday, which will be decoded in Poland.
Alexander Bastrykin, the ICPO chairman and the First Deputy Prosecutor General, reported to the members at the meeting.
"We have received new results and found more than 20 new fragments of the bodies," he said. "We have completed the examination of the plane's fragments and are now starting a detailed inspection of the crash site."
Tatyana Golikova, the Russian health care and social development minister, said the identification procedure "proceeded with difficulties" primarily because of psychological traumas.
Her Polish colleague Ewa Kopacz added: "You all know how the victims of such accidents look. The identification of bodies is an art in itself. We are working as one big family. This is the first time I have witnessed such excellent cooperation and mutual assistance in my work."
It was announced yesterday that President Dmitry Medvedev may arrive in Poland to pay tribute to the late Polish president.
Anastasia Savinykh
