BELGIUM: Belgians pray for victims and relatives of the Swiss bus crash in church services around the country

Record ID: 382852

  • Title: BELGIUM: Belgians pray for victims and relatives of the Swiss bus crash in church services around the country
  • Date: 19th March 2012
  • Summary: TEDDY BEARS AND FLOWERS ON THE GROUND ELDERLY WOMEN LOOKING AT MEMORIAL FLOWERS AT ENTRANCE TEDDIES AND CANDLES ON THE GROUND EXTERIOR OF SCHOOL/ PEOPLE LOOKING AT MESSAGES LEUVEN, BELGIUM (MARCH 18, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ST. PIETERSKERK CHURCH ENTRANCE TO CHURCH VARIOUS OF MONSIGNOR LEMMENS LEADING MASS PEOPLE LISTENING STATUE PEOPLE LISTENING CEREMONIAL GUARD (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) MONSIGNOR LEMMENS, SAYING: "In the morning we woke up to the news that overwhelmed us like a deep black nightmare. The parents, brothers and sisters from families, friends and neighbours, not only people in our country but countless persons in Europe and the whole world are shocked by this tragedy."
  • Embargoed: 3rd April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium, Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Accidents,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA1ZZEJGHAZR5LVUIGO17SR1B39
  • Story Text: Belgians prayed for the 28 victims of the Swiss bus crash on Sunday (March 18) during church services held around the country.
    At the school in Heverlee people continued to pay their respects laying candles and flowers outside the school.
    A sea of flowers, letters, teddies and candles covered the floor outside of the school in remembrance of the 28 people killed when a bus driving back from a ski trip crashed into a wall.
    On Friday (March 16) Belgian military aircraft brought home the bodies of 22 children and six adults as the country observed a national day of mourning marked by a minute silence.
    At the St. Pieterskerk church, Monsignor Lemmens recalled how the shock of the news affected the community.
    "In the morning we woke up to the news that overwhelmed us like a deep black nightmare. The parents, brothers and sisters from families, friends and neighbours, not only people in our country but countless persons in Europe and the whole world are shocked by this tragedy," he told the congregation in Leuven during mass.
    Swiss police continued to investigate how the coach, carrying 52 passengers, crashed into a tunnel wall on Tuesday (March 13) night.
    Lommel, home to 17 of those killed, plans a memorial ceremony on Wednesday (March 21), to be attended by members of the Belgian and Dutch royal families.
    Heverlee also plans a joint funeral on Thursday (March 22) for all seven child victims from the St Lambertus school there. Six Dutch children were killed in the crash and four more were injured. Lommel is right by the Dutch border. Official British sources said one of the dead was an 11-year-old with joint Belgian-British nationality
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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