EU, Russia Mourn Poland's Tragedy, Funeral Held Saturday

World | April 12, 2010, Monday // 14:24
EU, Russia, Mourn Poland's Tragedy, Funeral Held Saturday: EU, Russia Mourn Poland's Tragedy, Funeral Held Saturday A Polish soldier collects flowers from people at the gate of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. Photo by BGNES

The body of Polish President Lech Kaczynski is to lie in state in the capital Warsaw from Tuesday until Saturday when he is going to be buried along with his wife Maria.

The information was reported Monday by the Polish presidential press office.

Kaczynski will be in a closed casket while Tuesday had been selected to give the presidential administration enough time to prepare for the viewing.

The Polish nation mourns the victims of the Saturday Smolensk air crash. Kaczynski, his wife Maria and 94 others, including many top defense officials and public figures, died when their TU-154 government aircraft crashed en route to a war memorial service in Russia to commemorate the Polish victims of the 1940 Katyn massacre.

Russian investigators suspect that pilot error caused the tragedy and have ruled out technical failure. They say the pilots were warned that they were flying too low just before the plane clipped tree-tops in heavy fog, and crashed.

This is the first time ever when a President and a First Lady die at once. Maria Kaczynska's body was also identified Monday and the funeral will be held, in the presence of foreign dignitaries and officials, after all bodies arrive in Poland.

The body of the President was transported to Warsaw on Sunday and was met by crowds of grieving Poles. The pavement in front of President Kaczynski's palace in central Warsaw has nearly disappeared from sight, covered with flowers and thousands of small glass pots containing candles, BBC reports.

The identification of the bodies is underway in Moscow and is to last 3-4 days while a DNA expertise will be needed for some of the victims. Relatives, experts, psychologists and interpreters have all gathered in the Russian capital to help the process.

Poland began Monday the 7-day mourning with flags at half mast and church services in all cities and towns. In border areas the mass is held in Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian and priests are reading the names of all 96 victims.

The European Union has declared Monday an official day of mourning. In Brussels all flags are at half mast as well while meetings begin with a 2-minute silence in respect for the dead.

Monday, April 12 is also an official day of mourning in the Russian Federation, declared by the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev. Flags in the country are flying at half mast and television channels canceled all entertainment programs. Large numbers of flowers have been laid outside the Polish Embassy in the capital Moscow.

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Tags: Poland, Lech Kaczynski, body, airplane crash, Smolensk, Warsaw, lie in state, Dmitry Medvedev, day of mourning, Katyn Massacre

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