In the Hungarian village of Hejce, on Monday, they honored the memory of 41 members of the Slovak Armed Forces (OS) and one employee of the Department of Defense, who died 20 years ago on January 19 at 7:38 p.m. when an AN-24 military aircraft crashed. The State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic Martin Vojtašovič and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic General Daniel Zmeko took part in the commemoration. The Department of Defense reported about it on the social network.
In the biggest air disaster in the history of independent Slovakia, 39 men and three women who were returning from the KFOR mission in Kosovo died. “Their service to their country ended too soon, but their legacy lives on forever,Vojtašovič said in his speech.
Zmeko reminded that this tragedy forever changed many families and the entire OS SR. “This day is very personal for me. Let it not only be a day of sadness, but also a day of remembrance, gratitude and quiet hope. The hope that we will respect each other, that we will live responsibly and with the knowledge of how precious each given day is,” added the Chief of the General Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces.
The commemoration will continue in the evening on Borsó hill, exactly at 7:38 p.m., the time when the plane crashed. “Right at the scene of the tragedy, where the silence of the mountains reminded even more strongly of the price of service and sacrifice, 42 oak wheels symbolize the fallen heroes of our army“, added the Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic.
The plane with the Slovak members of the KFOR contingent, who were returning home from the mission, took off on January 19, 2006 at 17:15 CET from the airport in Pristina. There were 43 passengers on board – 42 soldiers, including eight crew members and one civilian employee of the Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic. It was supposed to land in Košice at approximately 7:40 p.m., but around 7:30 p.m. it crashed near the village of Hejce in eastern Hungary, just a few kilometers from the Slovak border. It hit Borsó hill and caught fire. Only one of the soldiers, Martin Farkaš, survived the accident.
