Polish archeologists on Wednesday started examining the site of the April plane crash that killed 96 people, including the Polish presidential couple near the western Russian city of Smolensk.

The archeologists will search for body fragments and other clues that may help establish the cause of the crash, which killed President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and dozens of the country's top officials. They will work at the site until Oct. 27.

The Tu-154 plane crashed near Smolensk on April 10 after hitting the tops of trees in a foggy weather.

The delegation was en route to Russia to attend a commemoration ceremony of the 1940 Katyn massacre; in which more than 20,000 Poles were killed by Soviet secret police.

A group of Russian archeologists will assist their Polish colleagues.

Last Sunday, exactly six months after the tragic crash, some 300 Polish representatives, including families of the 96 victims, attended a mourning ceremony together with Russian and Polish first ladies Svetlana Medvedeva and Anna Komorowski.

A joint investigation into the crash was being carried out by Russia and Poland, while Polish military prosecutors conducted a separate one on their own.

The RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing Polish military prosecutors, that results of the excavation will be made public between late November and early December.