波兰举国悼念飞机失事中遇难的总统

【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.

【中文译文】

波兰举国悼念飞机失事中遇难的总统
波兰各地城市周日下午默哀两分钟，悼念该国总统卡钦斯基(Lech Kaczynski)和几十位其他高级官员，这些人上周六在俄罗斯因飞机失事遇难。

随着悼念活动在波兰各地展开，这个国家陷入震惊和悲痛之中。当地时间中午，两分钟的默哀开始前一刻，波兰各地钟声和汽笛长鸣，以悼念这些死难者。

卡钦斯基的遗体周日下午晚些时候运抵华沙，灵车从机场经由华沙市中心和华沙老城的狭窄街道来到总统府，这里不仅是卡钦斯基的官邸，也是他的私人寓所。

官员们说，搭载卡钦斯基夫妇及波兰高级代表团其他94人的飞机上周六在俄罗斯西部城市斯摩棱斯克机场降落时失事，机上人员全部遇难。俄罗斯国家电视台报导说，莫斯科时间上周六将近11点时，卡钦斯基等人乘坐的图-154喷气机在距跑道约一公里的地方坠毁，当时这架飞机试图在浓雾弥漫的斯摩棱斯克Severnyi军用机场第二次降落。

俄罗斯官员们最初说，机上有97人丧生，但后来又修正说遇难人数为96人。

波兰总理图斯克(Donald Tusk )上周六召开了内阁紧急会议，随后飞赴斯摩棱斯克，他在那里与俄罗斯总理普京(Vladimir Putin)一道前往飞机失事现场悼念，在一名仪仗兵整理卡钦斯基的灵柩、准备将其运往华沙时，普京将鲜花放在了灵柩上。

据图斯克说，波兰政府运转正常，那些其首长在此次飞机失事中遇难的政府部门和军事司令部也在正常运作，遇难官员的职责由其副手暂行代理。

由波兰和俄罗斯两国组成的联合调查组正准备研究这架图-154飞机上黑匣子记录的内容。俄罗斯调查委员会主席巴斯特金(Alexander Bastrykin)周日对普京说，对黑匣子的初步分析显示，飞机没有发生机械故障的迹象。巴斯特金说，这架图-154喷气机的飞行员曾被告知地面的天气状况不佳，但他仍决定降落。

波兰官员一直未对此次飞机失事可能的原因公开发表评论，而俄罗斯官员们则指出，机组人员的失误可能是导致飞机失事的原因。俄罗斯官员说，这架飞机在浓雾中未能降落在跑道上，随即失事，此前塔台控制人员曾告诉飞行员，要他转往莫斯科或明斯克的机场降落。

根据波兰宪法，波兰国会众议院的议长在总统身亡的情况下将成为临时国家元首。这位临时总统将在总统死亡之日起两周内宣布提前举行总统选举。而选举必须在宣布提前进行总统选举之日起两个月内举行。波兰的总统选举原定于今年秋季举行，该国众议院议长科莫罗斯基(Bronislaw Komorowski)是一位重要候选人。

上周六的飞机失事使波兰左、右翼的政治精英大部分丧生，保守派反对党的核心人物也在事故中遇难。与总统一同遇难的还有波兰央行行长斯克希佩克(Slawomir Skrzypek)、他的死亡可能意味着央行利率决策机构货币政策委员会(Monetary Policy Council)内的力量平衡将发生改变。克希佩克遇难后，波兰央行第一副行长维索雷克(Piotr Wiesolek)已出任央行代理行长。

波兰数位重要的军事领导人也在空难中丧生，其中包括总参谋长冈戈尔(Franciszek Gagor)。波兰一位重要的总统候选人人选也在此次事故中遇难。