Investigators tried today to
pinpoint the cause of the disaster that sent a Ukrainian air force jet crashing into a crowd of terrified onlookers, killing at least 83 people, as emergency workers struggled to identify and count the victims.
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An injured child holding gauze to his face after the fighter plane crashed in Lviv yesterday.
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The government set up a commission to probe the crash at an air show in western Ukraine, but President Mr Leonid Kuchma immediately held the military responsible, sacking the country's air force chief.
"The culprits should be punished, there is no doubt," said Mr Kuchma, who broke off his vacation in Crimea to fly to the crash site, describing the incident which also injured 116 people as a "terrible tragedy, a real nightmare."
During an on-the-spo
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t briefing yesterday, Mr Kuchma fired both the country's air force chief, Mr Viktor Strelnikov, and Mr Sergei Oniszhenko, commander of the 14th air force division which took part in the air show.
"It is terrible that innocent people suffer," added the president, who also announced that he wanted a ban on military airshows in Ukraine.
A low-flying Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27 jet appeared to lose control before hitting the ground and exploding in flames during the show in Sknyliv, near Lviv, yesterday afternoon.
The emergencies ministry said 83 people were killed, including 19 children, and that 116 people were taken to five hospitals in the western city of Lviv. Many were suffering from burns, fractures and head injuries.
Of those, 66 are still in hospital, including 23 in serious condition.
However, officials said an accurate death toll was not yet possible because many victims had been torn apart in the accident, making the body count difficult.
No information was immediately released on the causes of the accident, but unofficial reports said that engine failure was to blame. Investigators were to examine the jet's "black box" flight recorder.
AFP