波蘭舉國悼念飛機失事中遇難的總統

【英文原文】

Poland Mourns After President Is Killed In Plane Crash
Cities across Poland fell silent for two minutes Sunday afternoon as the country remembered President Lech Kaczynski and the dozens of other top officials who were killed in a plane crash in Russia Saturday.

As memorial services were held around Poland, the nation was in shock and mourning. At noon (6 a.m. ET), just before the two-minute memorial, thousands of bells and sirens rung out to commemorate the dead.

Mr. Kaczynski's body arrived in Warsaw later in the afternoon and was driven in a cortege from the airport through the capital's city center and the narrow streets of its Old Town before arriving at the presidential palace, which served not only as Mr. Kaczynski's official residence, but also as his private home.

Mr. Kaczynski, his wife and 94 others in a high-level delegation were killed Saturday when their plane crashed on landing outside the western Russian city of Smolensk, officials said. Russian state television reported that the Tupolev-154 jet crashed about a kilometer short of the runway on its second attempt to land in heavy fog at the Smolensk-Severnyi military airport, shortly before 11 a.m. Moscow time.

Russian officials had initially said 97 people were killed but later revised the figure to 96.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Saturday called an emergency meeting of the cabinet before flying to Smolensk, where he and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin paid their respects at the crash site. Mr. Putin laid flowers on Mr. Kaczynski's coffin as an honor guard prepared to load it for the trip to Warsaw.

The government is working normally, according to the prime minister, as are the organizations and military commands whose leaders perished in the crash, with their deputies temporarily taking over their duties.

A joint Polish-Russian team of investigators were preparing to examine the contents of the black boxes from the Tupolev-154 jet. Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia's Investigative Committee, told Mr. Putin Sunday that the preliminary analysis from the black boxes showed no sign of mechanical problems with the plane. 'The pilot was informed about the difficult weather conditions but nevertheless made the decision to land,' Mr. Bastrykin said.

Polish officials haven't commented publicly on the possible cause of the crash, while their Russian counterparts have pointed to crew error as the likely cause. The plane crashed short of the runway in heavy fog after controllers told the pilot to divert to Moscow or Minsk, Russian officials said.

According to the Polish Constitution, the speaker of the Sejm, Poland's lower house of Parliament, becomes the interim head of state in case of the death of the president. The interim president is required to call early presidential elections within two weeks from the day the president dies. The elections must take place within two months from the announcement of the election date. Bronislaw Komorowski, a key candidate in the presidential elections that would normally be scheduled in the autumn, is Poland's current Sejm speaker.

Saturday's crash wiped out much of the Polish political elite from left and right, including the core figures in conservative opposition. Traveling with the president was the governor of the central bank, Slawomir Skrzypek, whose death may mean a change of the balance of power in the rate-setting Monetary Policy Council. First deputy governor Piotr Wiesolek has become the acting governor of the National Bank of Poland after Mr. Skrzypek's death.

Poland also lost its key military leaders, including Chief of Staff Gen. Franciszek Gagor. One of the key presidential contenders also died in the crash.

【中文譯文】

波蘭舉國悼念飛機失事中遇難的總統
波蘭各地城市週日下午默哀兩分鐘，悼念該國總統卡欽斯基(Lech Kaczynski)和幾十位其他高級官員，這些人上週六在俄羅斯因飛機失事遇難。

隨着悼念活動在波蘭各地展開，這個國家陷入震驚和悲痛之中。當地時間中午，兩分鐘的默哀開始前一刻，波蘭各地鐘聲和汽笛長鳴，以悼念這些死難者。

卡欽斯基的遺體週日下午晚些時候運抵華沙，靈車從機場經由華沙市中心和華沙老城的狹窄街道來到總統府，這裏不僅是卡欽斯基的官邸，也是他的私人寓所。

官員們說，搭載卡欽斯基夫婦及波蘭高級代表團其他94人的飛機上週六在俄羅斯西部城市斯摩棱斯克機場降落時失事，機上人員全部遇難。俄羅斯國家電視臺報導說，莫斯科時間上週六將近11點時，卡欽斯基等人乘坐的圖-154噴氣機在距跑道約一公里的地方墜毀，當時這架飛機試圖在濃霧瀰漫的斯摩棱斯克Severnyi軍用機場第二次降落。

俄羅斯官員們最初說，機上有97人喪生，但後來又修正說遇難人數爲96人。

波蘭總理圖斯克(Donald Tusk )上週六召開了內閣緊急會議，隨後飛赴斯摩棱斯克，他在那裏與俄羅斯總理普京(Vladimir Putin)一道前往飛機失事現場悼念，在一名儀仗兵整理卡欽斯基的靈柩、準備將其運往華沙時，普京將鮮花放在了靈柩上。

據圖斯克說，波蘭政府運轉正常，那些其首長在此次飛機失事中遇難的政府部門和軍事司令部也在正常運作，遇難官員的職責由其副手暫行代理。

由波蘭和俄羅斯兩國組成的聯合調查組正準備研究這架圖-154飛機上黑匣子記錄的內容。俄羅斯調查委員會主席巴斯特金(Alexander Bastrykin)週日對普京說，對黑匣子的初步分析顯示，飛機沒有發生機械故障的跡象。巴斯特金說，這架圖-154噴氣機的飛行員曾被告知地面的天氣狀況不佳，但他仍決定降落。

波蘭官員一直未對此次飛機失事可能的原因公開發表評論，而俄羅斯官員們則指出，機組人員的失誤可能是導致飛機失事的原因。俄羅斯官員說，這架飛機在濃霧中未能降落在跑道上，隨即失事，此前塔臺控制人員曾告訴飛行員，要他轉往莫斯科或明斯克的機場降落。

根據波蘭憲法，波蘭國會衆議院的議長在總統身亡的情況下將成爲臨時國家元首。這位臨時總統將在總統死亡之日起兩週內宣佈提前舉行總統選舉。而選舉必須在宣佈提前進行總統選舉之日起兩個月內舉行。波蘭的總統選舉原定於今年秋季舉行，該國衆議院議長科莫羅斯基(Bronislaw Komorowski)是一位重要候選人。

上週六的飛機失事使波蘭左、右翼的政治精英大部分喪生，保守派反對黨的核心人物也在事故中遇難。與總統一同遇難的還有波蘭央行行長斯克希佩克(Slawomir Skrzypek)、他的死亡可能意味着央行利率決策機構貨幣政策委員會(Monetary Policy Council)內的力量平衡將發生改變。克希佩克遇難後，波蘭央行第一副行長維索雷克(Piotr Wiesolek)已出任央行代理行長。

波蘭數位重要的軍事領導人也在空難中喪生，其中包括總參謀長岡戈爾(Franciszek Gagor)。波蘭一位重要的總統候選人人選也在此次事故中遇難。