Air traffic controller stabbed to death

An air traffic controller who was working when two planes collided over Germany, killing 71 people, had been stabbed to death in his home. As reported, the disaster took place in July 2002 when a Russian charter plane crashed into a German cargo plane; most of the dead were Russian children. According to the BBC News website, the controller, who has never been identified, was stabbed to death at his home after an unknown man called at his home in Zurich, Switzerland. Police, who are refusing to rule out a link between the killing and the crash, say there was “a brief exchange of words” before the man was stabbed. Skyguide has reportedly stated that it is appalled by the killing, and that many of its workers are in shock. It has also temporarily reduced capacity by 40% in the air space it controls, because of the impact of the killing on the victim’s colleagues. Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad