Sun, Feb 01, 2009
Injuries Consistent With Death Caused By Impact, Investigators
Determine
An investigation into the death of General Wladyslaw Sikorski,
exiled Prime Minister of occupied WWII Poland, has yielded no
evidence to support decades-old theories he had been murdered
before his plane crashed off Gibraltar just 16 seconds after
takeoff from a British military base on July 4, 1943.
The Associated Press says Sikorski's body was exhumed last
November by Polish authorities in an attempt to put to rest some of
the allegations of foul play before the flight departed. Forensic
testing indicates his injuries were consistent with those one might
suffer in a plane crash, with no evidence of poisoning, gunshot
wounds or suffocation.
Court medical expert Tomasz Konopka said Sikorski died from
multiple organ trauma, suffered several broken ribs, broken bones
in his arms and legs, a damaged spine and eye-socket, among others.
"Such injuries are typical of transport accidents or falls from
great height," Konopka said.
Prosecutor Ewa Koj from the Institute of National Remembrance
investigates World War II-era crimes, and expressed a renewal of
focus at the release of the test results. "We can rule out certain
hypotheses that have turned up over the years. We can now focus on
whether the plane crash was the result of equipment failure on its
own or whether there was sabotage," Koj said.
Just three months before his death, Sikorski demanded an
investigation by the International Red Cross into the Katyn Forest
massacre of 4,000 Polish officers at the hands of Soviet forces.
The Soviet Union did not formally acknowledge responsibility for
the atrocity until 1989.
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