UKRAINE: LVIV AIR SHOW DISASTER VICTIMS REMEMBERED ON FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF TRAGEDY.

Record ID: 649088

  • Title: UKRAINE: LVIV AIR SHOW DISASTER VICTIMS REMEMBERED ON FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF TRAGEDY.
  • Date: 29th July 2003
  • Summary: (EU) LVIV, UKRAINE (JULY 25, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/CU: VICTIM SERGHIY KHAMYK STANDING OUTSIDE CITY ADMINISTRATION TALKING TO MAN; SERGHIY'S LEGS (2 SHOTS) 0.15 2. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) SERGHIY KHRAMYK SAYING: "My son (Ruslan) was with me that day. I only just managed to get him out of the way but when I pulled him aside a piece of the plane tore off my leg. At that point I was only thinking of my son, not of myself. Ruslan is still in shock. When he sees something like that (a plane passing by) he runs away." 0.52 3. MV: SERGHIY'S SON RUSLAN CRYING 1.07 4. GV: SERGHIY WALKING TOWARDS CITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE 1.13 5. MCU: SERGHIY IN MEETING INSIDE CITY ADMINISTRATION'S OFFICE/ SHOWING HIS PROSTHETIC LEG (3 SHOTS) 1.35 (EU) LVIV, UKRAINE (FILE - JULY 27, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 6. GV/GV/PAN: TWO DIFFERENT ANGLES OF SU-27 JET FIGHTER SMASHING INTO CROWD (2 SHOTS) 1.53 7. GV: AMBULANCE RUSHING TO CRASH SITE 1.59 8. GV: MEDICAL WORKERS ATTENDING INJURED ON THE GROUND 2.02 (EU) LVIV, UKRAINE (JULY 27, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 9. GV: TATYANA TARABAYEVA WITH HER HUSBAND AND HER BROTHER, BOTH VICTIMS OF THE CRASH 2.10 10. MV: TATYANA'S BROTHER ANATOLY WITH AMPUTATED ARM 2.17 11. GV/CU: PRIEST BLESSING GRAVES OF THOSE KILLED IN THE CRASH/ PHOTOGRAPH OF A YOUNG GIRL KILLED IN THE CRASH (2 SHOTS) 2.30 12. GV: SERGHIY KHAMYK AND SON RUSLAN WALKING WITH PROCESSION 2.37 13. MV: MAN CRYING OVER A GRAVE 2.41 14. GV: LARGE PROCESSION OF PEOPLE WITH PHOTOS OF THE DEAD HEADING TO GRAVES 2.53 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 13th August 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LVIV, UKRAINE
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Reuters ID: LVA2O440LALL0A1LFQ7R7M6RXR03
  • Story Text: Amid calls for justice and compensation for those
    injured, Ukrainians have remembered those who died in the air
    show disaster a year ago.



    Thirty one year-old Serghiy Khamyk will never forget
    that day - July 27, 2002. He was attending a military airshow
    in Lviv, Western Ukraine, when a Su-27 jet fighter crashed
    into the crowd of spectators. Serghiy lost his leg.

    After a year he was still trying to get money from local
    authorities to travel to Germany where he had found a
    specialist hospital, to be taught how to walk with a
    prosthetic leg.

    The small amount of money he had received had long run out
    and he still faced treatment costs, he said.

    "My son (Ruslan) was with me that day. I only just managed
    to get him out of the way but when I pulled him aside a piece
    of the plane tore off my leg," he told Reuters, adding he had
    later lost his job. He now receives 160 hryvnias (about $30) a
    month.

    "Ruslan is still in shock. When he sees something like
    that (a plane passing by) he runs away," he said of his
    six-year-old.

    Authorities have given out some money to compensate those
    hurt in the tragedy. But many complain they received around
    $200 for treatment that could run into the thousands.

    Igor Tarabayev and his brother-in-law Anatoly were also at
    the airshow with Igor's 2 year-old granddaughter. Igor covered
    his grandchild with his body and was heavily injured. Now he
    is unable to walk. His brother-in-law Anatoly lost one arm.

    Both need financial compensation but local authorities say
    there is no money.

    Others in Lviv said it was time for the authorities to try
    someone for the tragedy, saying they wanted justice. No one
    has faced trial and like many others like Serghiy, Igor and
    Anatoly say they have not received full compensation for their
    injuries.

    Seventy-seven people were killed and dozens injured when a
    Sukhoi Su-27 jet fighter skimmed the ground during a low-level
    manoeuvre and tore into a crowd of hundreds.

    Authorities first blamed the two pilots, who ejected to
    safety, saying they had ignored orders when they executed the
    manoeuvre. But in August last year (2002), a commission
    investigating the crash said the organisers had failed to
    allow enough space for the air show and had violated safety
    rules by allowing spectators to stand so close to the flying
    area.

    The ex-air force commander, Viktor Strelnykov, and the
    head of the division which took part in the air show were
    detained and then released due to a lack of evidence proving
    negligence. The two military pilots were also detained and
    then released.

    A year after the crash, flags were flying at half mast in
    Lviv and about 5,000 mourners visited the air base and placed
    pictures of the dead at a memorial statue. A moment of silence
    was observed at 12.45 pm (0945 GMT), when the plane slammed
    into the crowd a year ago.



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