Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 23, 1993                   TAG: 9309230051
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TBILISI, GEORGIA                                LENGTH: Medium

2ND PLANE DOWNED IN GEORGIA

Abkhazian rebels aboard a gunboat shot down the plane with a missile as it approached Sukhumi, the capital of the separatist region along the Black Sea, Georgia's Interior Ministry said.

A plane downed Tuesday also was hit by a heat-seeking missile fired from an Abkhazian gunboat. Twenty-eight people died in that attack.

At least 80 passengers were killed Wednesday, the Russian news agency Interfax reported, quoting Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze's press service.

Twenty-six people scrambled off the burning jet before it exploded, said Shevardnadze's spokesman, Vata Djordjikia.

But "more died than escaped," Djordjikia said, adding that he was unable to confirm the report that 80 had died.

The crew of the plane that was shot down Wednesday was unhurt, Russia's State Committee for Emergency Situations said.

Shevardnadze, who has been in Sukhumi to boost troop morale, called the rebel action "barbaric."

"In Sukhumi, two planes filled with citizens have been shot down in 24 hours. I think this act will shock the entire world," he said.

It was not immediately known how many people were on board the plane shot down Wednesday, which had been traveling from the capital, Tbilisi, to Sukhumi.

Djordjikia said the plane was a twin-engine TU-154, which can carry up to 180 passengers.

The plane, which Georgian officials said had been carrying humanitarian aid, would have been only the second to land at Sukhumi airport since it reopened earlier in the day following the crash Tuesday.

A third plane was about to land at Sukhumi on Wednesday when it saw the other plane explode and turned back to Tbilisi.

Fierce fighting, meanwhile, was reported around Sukhumi as government troops tried to break through rebel lines to reinforce a government contingent at the airport. Details of the fighting were sketchy because phones to Sukhumi were cut Tuesday night.

Sukhumi is the government's last stronghold in Abkhazia, where rebels have been fighting for more than a year for self-rule. More than 2,000 people have died.

In an offensive that began a week ago, the rebels have reached the city's outskirts but have been held off by government troops.

Georgian troops claimed some progress Wednesday in their push north from Tbilisi along the coastal highway linking Sukhumi with the rest of Georgia. The Abkhazians also reported gains, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Keywords:
FATALITY