A nation mourns victims of ski trip coach crash

The memorial service took place at the Soeverein Arena in Lommel (AP)

King Albert II, above with Queen Paola, and thousands of mourners took part in a memorial service in Lommel, northern Belgium, yesterday for the 15 children and two adults from the local school who died in a bus crash in a Swiss tunnel last week.

Soldiers carried the white coffins of 14 children into a 5,000-capacity hall, along with a coffin for their teacher. Photographs of the two other victims from the school were also carried in. They were an administrative assistant and another child who are being buried separately.

Twenty-eight people died when the coach crashed on 13 March at the end of a school trip.

A church service will be held today for victims from the second school involved, in the town of Heverlee, east of Brussels.