- Title: BELGIUM: School that lost seven children in Swiss bus crash in shock, says pastor
- Date: 16th March 2012
- Summary: HEVERLEE, BELGIUM (MARCH 15, 2012) (REUTERS) POLICE AT MAIN ENTRANCE OF SCHOOL FLOWERS LAYING ON GROUND NEXT TO SCHOOL GATE ELDERLY WOMAN LOOKING AT CHILD DRAWINGS ON WALL DRAWING OF FLOWERS WITH TEXT READING: "WE MISS YOU" WOMAN WITH TWO CHILDREN CARRYING FLOWERS WOMAN PLACING CANDLE ON THE GROUND SCHOOL PASTOR AND DEAN OF LEUVEN, DIRK DE GENDT SPEAKING TO MEDIA POLICEMEN (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) SCHOOL PASTOR AND DEAN OF LEUVEN DIRK DE GENDT SAYING: "The school is in deep shock, besides two of our companions, we lost seven children. Two children are very seriously injured. We have eight lightly injured children and the remaining number is in between. That means that our burden has become heavier over the last few hours." (SOUNDBITE) (English) SCHOOL PASTOR AND DEAN OF LEUVEN DIRK DE GENDT SAYING: "We have had a discussion for the support of the children, the teachers and the parents of this school. So we have three teams of specialists who are collaborating with us for the support of these three groups." YOUNG CHILD TAPING DRAWING ON WALL DRAWING SHOWING WHITE AND BLACK HEARTss
- Embargoed: 31st March 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Belgium, Belgium
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: Accidents
- Reuters ID: LVA7N5DI1PSVU0M96I1HXYJ4RN3K
- Story Text: The Belgian Catholic school St Lambertus was grieving the losses and injuries of their loved ones on Thursday (March 15) as more details of the victims of the deadly Swiss bus crash became known.
A Belgian school bus carrying 52 people crashed late on Tuesday night as it returned from a school-organised ski-trip in Switzerland. Twenty-eight people died, including 22 children all aged around 12.
Twenty-four of the children on the trip were from the St Lambertus school in Heverlee, a town in Belgium's northern Dutch speaking region of Flanders.
"The school is in deep shock, besides two of our companions, we lost seven children. Two children are very seriously injured. We have eight lightly injured children and the remaining number is in between. That means that our burden has become more heavy over the last few hours," said Dirk de Gendt, the school's pastor and dean of the historical city of Leuven.
De Gendt said a team of specialists will work with the school to help the teachers, parents and schoolmates of the victims cope with the tragedy.
"We have had a discussion for the support of the children, the teachers and the parents of this school. So we have three teams of specialists who are collaborating with us for the support of these three groups," de Gendt said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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