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They are back home
They were welcomed by their relatives at the airport in Warsaw. There were tears and an ecumenical prayer. – Today, the whole country is crying – said the Prime Minister Donald Tusk. – You have returned in woe, in national mourning. You have returned in glory.
The head of the government mentioned each of the persons by name. The coffins which arrived in Poland contain the bodies of, among others, the Vice-Speakers of Parliament Krzysztof Putra and Jerzy Szmajdziński, the Chief of the Chancellery of the President Władysław Stasiak, and the President of NBP Sławomir Skrzypek.
After the ceremony at the Okęcie airport, the coffins were transferred to the Warsaw sports hall Torwar, where the families will be able to keep vigil by their deceased relatives. The next plane transporting the bodies of the victims of the crash is expected to arrive on Thursday. It will bring the body of Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last Polish President in Exile.
Cracow is at the stage of preparations for the burial ceremony which is to take place on Sunday. The funeral service will be celebrated in the Mariacki Church. After that, the bodies of the presidential couple will be transported to Wawel.
