One Minute Of Silence For The Victims

The Slovakian military aircraft transported Slovakian peacekeepers who had finished their service abroad from Pristina, Kosovo to the Kosice military base. The investigation following the tragedy has found that following takeup, the aircraft had proceeded towards its destination without any problems, but at 19.40 it had crashed into the 800 m peak of Borsó Hill between Hejce and Telkibánya, and went down.

Presumably, the mistake of the pilot had caused the accident, who was approaching the Kosice airport relying on his own eyesight, without the help of the technical instruments. According to the findings of the investigation, the pilot had probably started to descend too early – the aircraft sank 800 metres in two minutes – and he had not taken the Zemplén Hills into account. The crew and the returning peacekeepers had tragically died in the accident, only one officer, 1st Lieutenant Martin Farkas (aged 27 at the time) survived the crash – in an almost miraculous way, he had a fortunate escape with minor injuries only. What is even more, it was him who called his wife on the phone to tell her about the disaster.

Three years have passed since the catastrophe, but on Borsó Hill near Hejce, the signs of the accident are still visible: tree trunks torn out right from the root, charred trees indicate where the biggest air crash in the history of the Slovak Republic had happened. The representatives of the competent Hungarian and Slovakian ministries have erected a two-and-a-half-metre granite block at the site of the disaster in the same year, more precisely on June 2. A year later, they constructed a memorial park near the obelisk, and on the forty-two memorials made of wood, the names, photos, and the ranks of the deceased Slovakian soldiers can be found. Simultaneously with the handover of the memorial park – on July 20, 2007 – the monument constructed in the centre of the village was inaugurated, created by László Szabó, a sculptor from Galánta.

At the monument standing in Béke tér (Peace Square), the representatives of the Slovakian and the Hungarian ministries of defence held a memorial event on the third anniversary of the tragedy. In addition to the relatives and family members of the victims, Jaroslav Baska, the Minister of Defence of the Slovak Republic, Imre Szekeres, the Hungarian Defence Minister, General Lubomir Bulik, the Chief of the Defence Staff of the Slovakian armed forces, and Lieutenant General (Eng.) János Mikita, the Deputy Chief of the MoD Defence Staff have also attended the event.

In the first part of the memorial service, the representatives of the Slovakian and Hungarian ministries and militaries have laid wreaths on the monument, then the attendees remembered the forty-two victims of the air crash with a minute of silence, bowing their heads.

– The reason why we are meeting here, in front of the monument today is to remember the soldiers the lives of whom had ended on January 19, 2006 on the nearby Borsó Hill while they had been returning home from the KFOR mission in Kosovo. In that cold January evening, forty-two of our colleagues had lost their lives here in the forest, within a visible distance from their homeland – Jaroslav Baska remembered the tragedy that happened three years ago. The Slovakian defence minister said: the soldiers and the relatives are standing here with excruciating memories and they feel like everything just happened yesterday.

According to the Slovakian minister, the ill-fated soldiers were returning from a place where they had been helping in securing peace, and where peaceful life is not a part of everyday life.

– Here, more than anywhere else, we are also making everyone aware that the military profession may demand an irreplaceable loss, human life, and unfortunately, sometimes it does indeed – said Jaroslav Baska, who also mentioned that standing at the monument, the grief which is difficult to bear and the immeasurable loss of the tragedy – which had shaken not only Slovakia but it had also touched many people in other countries – is felt stronger by everyone.

The Slovakian defence minister emphasized: he is aware that January 19 is the most difficult day of the year for every relative. But the tragedy has forged together several families suffering from the loss with the inhabitants of Hejce. Paradoxically, this unlucky event has contributed to the strengthening of Slovakian–Hungarian relations and mutual understanding.

– Every year, we remember and bow our head in this place on January 19. The political and military leaders of two neighbouring, allied NATO member states, the families, relatives, fellow soldiers, Slovakian and Hungarian people, who do not forget that three years ago, on this day the transport aircraft of the Slovakian air force crashed in this site with forty-three peple onboard – said Imre Szekeres in his speech. He added: the lives of the soldiers, the majority of whom was so young, heading from Kosovo to Kosice had ended in a second when their plane crashed into the side of Borsó Hill.

The Hungarian defence minister stressed: the rescue teams of the armed forces of the two countries, the Hungarian and Slovakian authorites had acted as one to offer help. Unfortunately, only one young officer survived the tragedy, the other soldiers died heroically.

In his address, Imre Szekeres has also mentioned that the relations between the Slovakian and the Hungarian armed forces are friendly and exemplary. The troops are serving together on a number of international missions, and cooperation is especially important in Cyprus and Afghanistan.

– The place we are standing now is a memento we share, it is the site of bowing our head together. We, Hungarians, feel the pain of our Slovakian friends even stronger today. An irrecoverable loss, a tragedy that has caused wounds which will never heal happened here, in Hejce. Slovakia and the military society had lost heroic soldiers, young lives, excellent experts – emphasized Imre Szekeres. At the anniversary, the representatives of the field chaplain services of the Slovakian and Hungarian armed forces have also remembered the tragedy, then the politicians, the troops, and the relatives lit candles at the monument.

The only survivor of the tragedy, 1st Lieutenant Martin Farkas has attended the memorial event this year, just like he did before, and laid a wreath on the monument. The young officer said upon the inquiry of honvedelem.hu: to this very day, he does not like to talk about the day of the accident and his memories.

The officer, who lives in Poprad, returned to his corps only a few months after the accident, and he has never quit the Slovakian military. Since the accident, he keeps returning to Hejce several times a year to remember his deceased comrades. He has also been to Borsó Hill, the site of the tragedy on more than one occasion.