Nad & Hungarian Defence Minister Pay Homage to Hejce Plane Crash Victims

Slovak Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad and his Hungarian counterpart Tibor Benko on Wednesday commemorated the 42 victims of the crash of a Slovak military transport aircraft 16 years ago in Hungary close to the Slovak border. Nad described the event as the greatest tragedy in the modern history of the Slovak Armed Forces and its victims as heroes. The An-24 plane, which was carrying the Slovak soldiers home from the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, crashed in mountainous terrain in Hungary only 50 kilometres from the planned destination of Kosice at around 7.30 p.m. on January 19, 2006. Only one of the 43 people on board survived.