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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 97-12-22Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY THE MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCYThessaloniki, December 22, 1997TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] AGONY ENDS, MOURNING BEGINS, ALL BODIES PULLED FROM WRECKED PLANEThessaloniki, December 22 (MPA)Sifting through the frozen wreckage of the Ukrainian YAK-42 passenger plane that crashed in a wooded ravine north of Mt. Olympus last Wednesday night, rescue crews have completed the discovery of the bodies and scattered remains of the jet’s 70 passengers, whose personal belongings are still fluttering about on the white slopes.The debris of Aerosweet Flight 241 was found by a Greek Navy helicopter Saturday morning when heavy cloud cover lifted temporarily, 61 hours after the plane “vanished”. The relatives of the 42 Greeks among the plane’s passengers are at Thessaloniki’s Papageorgiou hospital where forensic examinations are currently taking place. According to reports, the dead appear to be dismembered into unrecognisable body parts. The bodies of the two Ukrainian pilots will be taken to Thessaloniki’s AHEPA hospital where the autopsies and toxic tests will be performed by Ukrainian and Greek experts. A.F. [02] SCENES OF UNBEARABLE GRIEF AT LOCAL HOSPITAL, WORDS ARE TOO SMALL..Thessaloniki, December 22 (MPA)With the process of recognising fragmented body parts currently underway, the relatives of the doomed 241 Flight’s victims can hardly find solace in the discovery of the remains of their beloved.Gathered at Thessaloniki’s Papageorgiou Hospital, the tragic and distraught figures with tears streaming down their faces, are waiting for the forensic examinations to be completed so they can bury their loved ones in peace. The 42 Greeks were en route to home from Ukraine for the holidays. Among them, the wife, eight-year-old son and five-year- old daughter of Ukrainian soccer player Vladimir Lobas, who plays for a Greek team. When the ambulance door opened, the tragic father collapsed on his children’s and wife’s still bodies. A.F. [03] MINISTER OF MACEDONIA-THRACE BRIEFS PREMIER ON PLANE CRASHAthens, December 22 (MPA)The Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Philippos Petsalnikos gave an analytical report to the Prime Minister Kostas Simitis last evening on the developments concerning the Ukrainian Flight 241 which crashed on December 17, killing all 70 passengers.The Prime Minister is to bring forth the tragedy of the crash, as well as the second crash of the Greek Air Force‘s C-130, in the Parliament. The leader of the country’s main opposition party New Democracy’s Kostas Karamanlis said that his party plans to request that a review committee be formed. The Minister of Macedonia-Thrace remained in Athens this morning, unable to return to Thessaloniki, since the Athens- Thessaloniki route was not conducted due to dense fog. Meanwhile, according to local press reports, five communities of Thessaloniki have sought recourse with the State Council, expressing their opposition to the establishment of a radar in their community. According to their appeal, the interested parties ask that the decision to establish a radar in their community be recalled because, they claim, if the radar is mounted there, the environment will undergo extensive damage, the land value will depreciate and it will pose a health threat for the locals. A.F. [04] UKRAINIAN MINISTER THANKS THE GREEK GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLEThessaloniki, December 22 (MPA)Ukrainian Minister for Emergencies Valeri Capcenko has expressed his sorrow for the victims of the YAK-42 airplane tragedy, but he also forwarded his gratitude to the Greek government for its efforts.“The Greek government and the simple folk helped us a lot. And, during these difficult times, this is what will stray in our minds and our souls,” he stated. Moreover, the Ukrainian official thanked the Greek Ministry of National Defense and those who exerted superhuman efforts to discover the doomed aircraft. “Neither the satellites nor the specially-equipped planes managed to locate the plane. The Greek pilots did,” Mr. Capcenko said, making special mention of the “high professional level of the Ministry of National Defense” and “good co-ordination of the discovery operation”. “I went to the site of the disaster and what I saw was horrible. Our men took part in the discovery operation, along with the Greek experts who had really good co-ordination., In spite of the language barrier, there was no difference in professionals, or preparation,” he stated, adding that “there are currently six joint groups comprising both Ukrainians and Greeks who work together. The Greeks are helping more since they are on their grounds.” The Ukrainian Minister hesitated to comment on the causes of the crash. “The causes will be examined by the special committee that has been formed and when it produces the results then we will be in a position to state what exactly happened,” he said. A.F. [05] THE BLACK BOX OF THE UKRAINIAN YAK-42 FORWARDED TO GERMANYThessaloniki, December 22 (MPA)The black box of the Ukrainian YAK-42 passenger plane that crashed on December 17 in a ravine near Mt. Olympus has been forwarded to a German laboratory where it will be de-coded.A team of experts is currently investigating the causes of the crash, where 70 persons lost their lives. The “black box”, which is actually a bright orange color, records every second of the flight’s data and the conversation held between the plane’s pilot with the air traffic control tower. It is composed by two separate recording systems, the flight recorder and the voice recorder. The first documents all the data related to time, such as the plane’s velocity at any given minute, the altitude, the perpendicular and horizontal slopes, etc. The second system records the conversation held between the pilot and the air traffic control tower. A.F. [06] GREEK PARLIAMENT APPROVES 1998 BUDGETAthens, December 22 (MPA)The parliamentary discussion on 1998’s budget was completed last night, with 163 votes in favor and 136 votes against.Opposition parties New Democracy, Communist Party of Greece and Coalition of the Left and Right voted against the budget, while the deputies of the Democratic Social Movement voted in favour of the budget’s allocations for national defence. Three deputies from the ruling PASOK party voted against sections of the budget. A.F. [07] MILAN MILUTINOVIC IS SERBIA’S NEW PRESIDENTBelgrade, December 22 (MPA)Milan Milutinovic the candidate of the left coalition “Socialist Party -Yugoslav Left - New Democracy” has gathered the majority of the votes in the second round of Presidential elections held in Serbia yesterday.The socialist party announced that with 98% of the votes counted, Mr. Milutinovic has amassed 59.68%, that is 2,185,218 votes, while the second contender Voislav Seseli gathered 37.24%, that is 1,363,577. The voter turnout rate surpassed the 50% mark, amounting to 50.52%, which means that the second route will not be nullified. A.F. [08] US PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON ON VISIT TO BOSNIASarajevo, December 22 (MPA)The President of the United States Bill Clinton, arrived at the airport of Sarajevo this morning, accompanied by his wife Hillary, his daughter Chelsea, Secretary of State Madeline Albright and a delegation of senators, as well as former presidential candidate Bob Dole.The US President was greeted at the airport by the three leaders of Bosnia’s collective presidium, namely Momcilo Kraisnic, Elija Izetbecovic and cresimir Zubac, with whom President Clinton will hold talks at Bosnia’s National Museum. The American President and his delegation arrived at the airport of Sarajevo at 815 local time, from the Ramstein Air Force base near Frankfurt. The Air Force One plane was forced to be re routed from northern Italy due to adverse weather conditions. During his one-day stay, President Clinton will meet with the US troops participating in the peacekeeping force assigned to Bosnia, whose stay has been extended to June of 1998. Moreover, the American President’s program includes a meeting with the leader of the Serbs living in Bosnia Bljana Plavsic, a speech given at the Opera House and sightseeing tour of Sarajevo. Thereafter, Mr. Clinton will visit Tuzla, where he will meet with the American officers and officials from the United Nations, before returning to Washington. A.F. [09] ALBANIA: OPPOSITION STILL REACTS TO EXTENSION OF GREEK FORCES’ STAYTirana, December 22 (MPA)Opposition parties in Albania have not viewed with a good eye the government’s decision to extend the stay of the Greek forces in their country for another six months, a decision drawn within the framework of cooperation between the two countries. The deputy of the Democratic party and president of the parliamentary Defense committee Azem Hidari has asked the President of the Republic Reijep Meidani not to ratify the Parliament’s decision.However, the president of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs Sabri Godo stressed that the decision to extend the stay of the Greek armed forces is taking place within the framework of NATO and the Alliance’s “Partnership for Peace” program. A.F. Complete archives of the Macedonian Press Agency bulletins are available on the MPA Home Page at http://www.mpa.gr/ and on the U.S. mirror at http://www.hri.org/MPA/Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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