The volcano in Iceland, which spewed ash forcing many European airlines to shut down and stranded hundreds and thousands of travelers may also delay the funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who died along with 95 others in a plane crash over Russia last Saturday. President Barack Obama is among the leaders scheduled to attend the state funeral on Sunday in Krakow. This story just keeps getting sadder and sadder:
A volcanic ash cloud that has shut down Europe’s airports threatened on Friday to delay a state funeral for Polish President Lech Kaczynski due to be attended by world leaders including President Barack Obama.
Tens of thousands of mourners continued to file past the coffins of Kaczynski and his wife Maria in Warsaw’s presidential palace. Some had been waiting up to 18 hours to view the coffins, a measure of the grief felt by many Poles over the worst single disaster to hit their country since World War Two.
The heads of Poland’s armed forces, its central bank governor and opposition lawmakers were also among the 96 people killed last Saturday when their aging Tupolev plane crashed in thick fog while trying to land near Smolensk in western Russia.
Jacek Sasin, a member of Poland’s presidential administration, said senior officials would meet later on Friday to analyze the situation and would then make a final decision.
“(A delay) would be the last resort. For now we’re monitoring the situation,” Sasin told reporters.
Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkoy and dozens of other heads of state and government and royalty are all scheduled to attend Sunday’s funeral in Krakow.
The volcano in distant Iceland has been spewing ash into the atmosphere since Wednesday, causing air traffic disruption on a scale not seen since the September 11 attacks in 2001 and leaving hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded across Europe.
Volcanic ash contains tiny particles of glass and pulverized rock that can damage engines and airframes. Experts say the ash could cause problems to air traffic for up to six months if the eruption continues.
Our thoughts are with all the people dealing with these two disasters.
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