Yak-42 relatives to take partin National Day celebrations

8 October 2004

MADRID – Relatives of soldiers who died in Spain’s worst peacetime air disaster will for the first time join the King in celebrating the country’s National Day, the Defence Secretary announced Friday.

Jose Bono said the families of the soldiers involved in the Yak-42 disaster will take part in the military parade next Tuesday 12 October.

In May last year, 62 soldiers returning to Spain from a peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan were killed when the ageing Russian-built Yak-42 aircraft in which they were travelling crashed in Turkey. All the  soldiers plus the aircrew were killed.

But the tragedy descended into a scandal when the Spanish government later admitted they had wrongly identified the bodies of the dead soldiers when they were hastily brought back home for state funerals.

It emerged that DNA tests later proved 30 soldiers whose bodies were analysed by Spanish medical teams in rushed autopsies were wrongly identified.

Families of those who died have asked for their bodies to be exhumed in order that their real identities can be established, after a mix-up which led to the sacking of two generals and an apology from the government.

Among others at the ceremonies will be the relatives of the 191 people who died in the Madrid terrorist attacks and families of victims of the Basque terrorist group ETA.

The military ceremony, to be held in Madrid, will involve 3,500 soldiers, 300 vehicles and 92 aircraft who will stage a fly past.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news