100,000 pay homage in Warsaw to plane crash victims (2nd Roundup)

Apr 17, 2010, 18:16 GMT

Warsaw - Around 100,000 grieving Poles gathered at Warsaw's largest square Saturday for an official ceremony honouring the 96 victims of last week's plane crash that claimed the Polish president and many of the country's top politicians and military leaders.

A white cross stood at the centre of an altar set up on Pilsudski Square against a display of black-and-white photographs of the victims.

The crowd waved Polish flags, and flags with the logo of the Solidarity labour union, which President Lech Kaczynski joined during Poland's communist rule. Shipyard workers from Gdansk, northern Poland, carried a flag depicting the Virgin Mary and Jesus.

Sirens rang out across the city at noon, followed by a moment of silence before names of the victims were read aloud and the national anthem was played.

The crash occurred in Smolensk, Russia, as the 96 were en route to ceremonies to mark the Soviet-era massacre of some 22,000 Polish officers, executed by Stalin's secret police and buried in mass graves in the Katyn forest.

'The world crumbled for us for the second time, in the same part of the world,' said acting President Bronislaw Komorowski. The tragedy was also a rare moment in history that united Poles, he added.

'None of us remembers a moment when so many, so many eminent people died in one horrible moment,' said Prime Minister Donald Tusk. 'Our deepest sense of unity, born in a moment of mourning, must last because then the deaths will have a significant, most deep meaning.'

Their speeches were followed by an outdoor mass in the square, at the site where Polish Pope John Paul II also gave a mass in 1979 that united thousands under the yoke of communism.

Sirens and church bells sounded across Poland at 0856 (0656 GMT) to mark precisely one week since the plane crash.

Buses, trams and the metro were free in Warsaw as a large block of the city centre was shut down to traffic. Hundreds made their way from the central train station to Pilsudski Square, or gathered to watch the ceremonies on five large screens. Police estimated some 100,000 people attended.

Crowds continued to line up Saturday hoping to pay last-minute respects at the coffins of the presidential couple, which have lain in state since Tuesday.

City officials have removed some some 330 tonnes of burned-out candles and dried flowers from the entrance, reported the Polish Press Agency PAP.

Hundreds of scouts were replacing them with new ones brought from Poles who came to Warsaw from across the country.

The coffins of Kaczynski and his wife Maria were later moved from the presidential palace to St John's Cathedral for an evening mass.

The coffins were seen off at the palace by Kaczynski's daughter Marta, and his twin brother Jaroslaw, the head of the opposition Law and Justice party. Kaczynski's mother has not been told of her son's death, as she was seriously ill and doctors advised against it.

Kaczynski's coffin, closed and draped with a flag of the Polish white eagle, was escorted to the cathedral as hundreds lined up along the route and applauded. Roses and tulips were placed in the street before the procession, or thrown towards the vehicle, as nearby churches rang their bells.

The coffins were to be flown by military plane Sunday to Krakow, for a funeral there in Wawel Cathedral. The cloud of ash that spread from an Icelandic volcano across Europe was no danger to the plane, as military and transport planes fly at a slightly lower elevation, said Minister Jacek Sasin of the president's chancellery.

However, the burial place at Wawel Cathedral sparked controversy Friday after some 200 protesters gathered in Krakow saying the crypts, the traditional burial place of Polish kings, generals and national heroes, were too prestigious for the presidential couple.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are among those expected to attend the funeral in Krakow - despite the difficulties caused by the no-fly zones due to the volcanic ash cloud.

Some 87 delegations, including a record number of world leaders, were expected for the funeral on Wawel Hill.

However, eleven delegations have had to cancel because of the cloud of volcanic ash that has grounded most airports across Europe, the Polish foreign ministry said late Saturday.

Britain's Prince Charles has canceled, along with delegations including Sweden, Canada, Mexico and India.