Polish experts investigating the causes of the plane crash near Smolensk will arrive in Vitebsk today

April 10, Minsk /Olga Belyavskaya - BELTA/. Members of the Polish commission investigating the causes of the crash of Polish President Lech Kaczynski's plane will arrive in Vitebsk today, BELTA was informed at the city's airport. Their arrival at Vitebsk Airport is expected by the end of the day. The time has not yet been specified. "We are expecting the Polish experts, we are ready to provide them with all possible assistance and facilitate their prompt arrival at the crash site," the airport noted. Specialists reported that the crew of the crashed plane did not contact the air traffic controllers of the Vitebsk airport with a request for landing. "They could have done so, we were ready to accept them, but the crew decided not to deviate from the route and make the planned landing in Smolensk," the airport said. The Tu-154 of the Polish government aviation detachment, carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski, crashed this morning while approaching for landing. The plane was landing in heavy fog, caught the tops of trees and fell about 500 meters from the runway of the Severny airfield near Smolensk. According to updated data, there were 96 people on board the plane. 88 passengers of the Tu-154 that crashed near Smolensk were members of the official Polish delegation. None of them survived. A criminal case has been initiated on the fact of the air disaster under Part 3 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Russia ("Violation of traffic safety rules for air transport, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence"). The investigation is considering various versions of the incident, including adverse weather conditions, human factor, and technical malfunctions. -0-