BELGIUM: Hearses carrying the bodies of the victims of the Swiss bus crash arrive at funeral home

Record ID: 382837

  • Title: BELGIUM: Hearses carrying the bodies of the victims of the Swiss bus crash arrive at funeral home
  • Date: 17th March 2012
  • Summary: NEAR MELSBROEK, BELGIUM (MARCH 16, 2012) (REUTERS) CONVOY OF HEARSES DRIVING LED BY POLICE HEARSES DRIVING PAST CLOSE OF HEARSE DRIVING PAST HEARSES ON MOTORWAY POLICE DIRECTING TRAFFIC AS HEARSES DRIVE PAST HEVERLEE, BELGIUM (MARCH 16, 2012) (REUTERS) CONVOY OF HEARSES DRIVING ON ROAD VARIOUS OF HEARSES ON ROAD HEARSE ENTERING GATE OF FUNERAL HOME POLICEWOMAN STANDING BY GATE WHITE COFFIN VISIBLE THROUGH BACK WINDOW OF HEARSE CAR AND TWO CYCLISTS WAITING FOR HEARSES TO PASS HEARSE ENTERING FUNERAL HOME, FOLLOWED BY POLICE ON MOTORBIKE TWO POLICEMEN STANDING, POLICE ON MOTORBIKE ENTERING GATE OF FUNERAL HOME BLACK RIBBON ON CAR POLICEMAN STANDING IN FRONT OF GATE, HEARSES PARKING HEARSE MOVING THROUGH GATE POLICE STANDING NEXT TO MOTORBIKE IN FRONT OF FUNERAL HOME, NAME "PUES" ON WALL
  • Embargoed: 1st April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium, Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Accidents
  • Reuters ID: LVABM6W8PBLWGPQ6JH27BSP0YGMO
  • Story Text: A convoy of 28 hearses carrying the bodies of the victims of the Swiss bus crash departed from the Brussels military airport on Friday (March 16). Police on motorbikes escorted the convoy of black hearses as they drove to the towns of Heverlee and Lommel in the northern Belgian region of Flanders.
    Hercules transport aircraft earlier on Friday flew the white coffins to the military airport in Melsbroek, just outside Brussels.
    Nine of the 28 people killed were from the Catholic school St Lambertus in Heverlee. Police stood by as the hearses entered the grounds of a local funeral home.
    Belgium is holding a day of mourning to remember the victims, most of them 12 years old, who were returning from a ski trip to the Belgian towns of Heverlee and Lommel when their bus crashed in the wall of a tunnel in the Swiss canton of Valais. 6 adults and 22 children were killed in the tragedy.
    A minute of silence was observed around the country at 11 a.m. (1000 GMT) and churches and cathedrals rang bells for several minutes after the silence. Radio stations changed their playlists to reflect the sombre mood.
    Flags were flown at half-mast on public buildings across Belgium, the Netherlands and the Swiss canton of Valais where the accident happened.
    Six children who survived with minor injuries returned home on Thursday (March 15), Belgian authorities said. A Swiss hospital spokeswoman said a further two were also on their way, leaving 16 still in hospital, including three in critical condition.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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