The plane, a Tupolev Tu-154, was flying from Warsaw to the Russia city of Smolensk also carried the president's wife, army chief of staff, Deputy Foreign Minsiter Andrzej Kremer and the central bank governor, said Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Piotr Pszkowski.
It crashed some 1.5 km from Smolensk airport in foggy weather, Russia news agencies reported.
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The Russian television's broadcast live footage showed that the plane's wreckage scattered in a forest with parts of it still on fire.
The rescuers are still searching the missing black box.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has sent Minister for Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu, to the crash site and ordered the establishment of a investigation committee headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to investigate the air disaster.
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Opinion
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Backgrounder
? Major air accidents in recent years