Twenty Years since Military Plane Crash Commemorated in Hejce, Hungary

Hejce, 19 January (TASR) - Defence Ministry State Secretary Martin Vojtasovic and Chief-of-General-Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces Daniel Zmeko paid tribute in the Hungarian village of Hejce on Monday to 41 members of the Slovak Armed Forces and one employee of the Defence who died 20 years ago on 19 January at 7.38 p.m. in the crash of an AN-24 military aircraft, the Defence Ministry posted on social media. The worst air disaster in the history of independent Slovakia claimed the lives of 39 men and three women who were returning from a KFOR mission in Kosovo. "Their service to their country ended too soon, but their legacy lives on forever," said Vojtasovic in his address. Zmeko pointed out that this tragedy forever changed many families and the entire Slovak Armed Forces. "This day is very personal to me. May it be not only a day of mourning, but also a day of commemoration, gratitude, and quiet hope. Hope that we'll value each other, that we'll live responsibly and with awareness of how precious each day is," added the Chief-of-General-Staff. On 19 January 2006, 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. Only one of the 43 people on board survived. am/mcs