After going to the scene where a plane crash in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his grief as the death toll has reached 26.
On his Facebook post, Zelensky honored the fallen air force personnel and said that the country has lost 26 of its worthy sons. The tragedy that happened near the city of Kharkiv involved an Antonov AN-26 transport plane which had 27 passengers on board, 20 cadets, and seven officers.
In the post, the president declared Sunday as a day of mourning in the country expressing how difficult it is to find words which can express his sorrow.
Only one person was able to survive the plane crash.
According to Reuters, the plane caught fire while landing near a highway about a mile away from the military airbase in Chuguiy.
Based on a statement from an eyewitness, he saw a person running away from the wreckage but was already on fire. That was he and another driver they took a fire extinguisher and rushed to help the man.
On Saturday, three more bodies were found in the wreckage plus one who died in the hospital, brought the death toll higher.
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The only survivor
After visiting the crash site, the Ukrainian president also visited the sole survivor of the crash in the hospital.
Twenty-year-old, Vyacheslav Zolochevsky I currently recovering in a military hospital in Kharkiv. During his visit, Zelensky posted a picture of the cadet who was bandaged both in the head and in the arm on his Facebook page.
The president also praised the survivor for his heroin as he tried to save one of his comrades who caught on fire. He stated that despite being in a dark situation, surrounded by destruction and fire, Zolochevsky still tried to save his colleague.
In a statement released by the doctors, it was noted that the cadet's life is in no immediate danger and that he only suffered from a concussion.
Investigation
According to CBS, the cadets who were on board the plane were around 19 to 22 years old. Investigators at the moment are still trying to figure out the reason for the crash. They are not ruling out anything which may have caused the death of 26 people, from possible technical malfunction, poor maintenance of the aircraft, and possible human error.
It was also noted by SBU security service that while the plane was being used in flight training, none of the training cadets were involved in piloting the plane during the time of the incident. They also released preliminary information stating that the plane's pilot reported that one of the engines have failed just a few minutes before the plane hit the ground.
Moreover, Andriy Taran, the country's Defense Minister stated that the plane possibly hit the ground with its wing before it burst into flames. He also noted that based on preliminary findings, it can be inferred that one of the left engine sensors of the plane failed.
However, he also added that more information on the crash may be revealed after the analysis on the black box.
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