Ukraine military plane crash kills 26; lone survivor praised for ‘heroism’

Author: CBS/AFP
Published: Updated:
This undated photo provided by the Ukraine’s Police on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020 shows a group photo of cadets from the military aviation school killed in an AN-26 military plane crash. AN-26 military plane crashed in the town of Chuhuiv close to Kharkiv late Friday Sept. 25, 2020, killing 26 of the 27 people aboard. The plane, a twin-turboprop Antonov-26 belonging to the Ukrainian air force, was carrying a crew of seven and 20 cadets of a military aviation school when it crashed and burst into flames while coming in for landing at the airport in Chuhuiv, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of the capital Kyiv. (Ukrainian Police Press Office via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday praised the only survivor of a military plane crash as the death toll climbed to 26, after another cadet died and three more bodies were found. Zelensky went to the scene of the tragedy near the northeastern city of Kharkiv where an Antonov AN-26 transport plane carrying 20 air force cadets and seven officers crashed during a training flight on Friday evening.

“Ukraine has lost 26 worthy sons,” Zelensky said on Facebook, referring to the cadets and officers of the Kharkiv National Air Force University.

“It is difficult to find words to express the pain of this loss,” he said, declaring Saturday a day of mourning.

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