Remembering the Hejce Air Disaster

Szöveg: Zoltán Kovács | 2014. január 21. 9:02

Human tragedies overrule country borders. The people of the village of Hejce participated as one in the rescue operations, giving an example from compassion, helpfulness and solidarity – Tamás Vargha said on January 19, during the commemoration held on the eighth anniversary of the Hejce air disaster.

In the centre of Hejce a monument keeps the memory of the victims of the tragedy alive

It was eight years ago now, that the Slovak Air Force suffered the gravest catastrophe of its history. On January 19, 2006, in the evening hours, during the landing process, a Slovak An-24 aircraft, on its way to Kassa, on board with the Slovak peacekeeping soldiers returning home from Kosovo fell down after crashing into the Borsó-Hill towering over the settlement of Hejce, in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county. In the disaster forty-two people lost their lives, solely one officer survived the collision. While falling down, the plane devastated the trees in a length of 800 meters, and in a width of 30-40 meters, then collided on the ground, fell into pieces, caught fire and burned out. The plane wrecks scattered across a territory of 1800 square meters in the forest. Upon the phone call of the surviving soldier, the rescue operation started at once with an exemplary unity, although the cold weather and the hard approachability of the venue of the accident largely hampered the works.

Tamás Vargha and Tibor Benkő bow their heads before the victims

Since then a commemoration and a wreath-laying ceremony has been held every year at the monument erected in Hejce, by those who lost their loved ones, the comrades, the leaders of the Slovak Armed Forces and the Hungarian Defence Forces, as well as the one-time participants of the rescue operation and the locals. This year our homeland war represented by the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Tamás Vargha and the Chief of the MoD Defence Staff General Dr. Tibor Benkő.

Tamás Vargha praised the exemplary bravery and selflessness of the rescue workers

The homecoming Slovak soldiers, after the hardships of the mission in Kosovo, were looking forward to the peace of home, the joy of meeting again with their loved ones, when the terrible end struck – Tamás Vargha recalled the sad events. “Human tragedies overrule country borders. The people of the village of Hejce participated as one in the rescue operation, giving an example from compassion, helpfulness and solidarity" – the Parliamentary State Secretary said in his speech.

In his speech, the Minister of Defence of the Slovak Republic Martin Glváč said that possibly, the darkest day of the Slovak Armed Forces had been January 19, 2006. The Head of the Portfolio thanked the people who participated in the rescue operation, and especially highlighted the selfless help of the inhabitants of Hejce during the hard times.