Party wants ministers sacked in wake of tragedy

Party wants ministers sacked in wake of tragedy

BELGRADE -- The Social-Democratic Union (SDU) on Monday asked for defense and health ministers in the Serbian government to be "urgently dismissed."

The party, that is not represented in parliament, also demands an investigation that will determine whether Bratislav Gasic and Zlatibor Lonar made wrong decisions that contributed to the crash of a military helicopter in Belgrade late on Friday, that resulted in the deaths of seven people.

The party wants to know who decided to transport a sick baby from Novi Pazar to Belgrade, instead of to Kraljevo, as was the original intention, why the helicopter was not ordered to take the infant to either Nis or Kragujevac - if Kraljevo lacked the proper conditions to offer adequate medical care - and, "who released to the public the information that the helicopter had landed (in Belgrade) successfully."

"Based on all the listed unknowns, the impression is that state officials have, for the umptheeth time, jeopardized the safety of people for the sake of their own public promotion, while this time this irresponsible behavior incurred the highest possible cost - the loss of seven lives," the SDU said.