Leuven holds services for crash victims; vigil outside morgue in Sion

Описание: (14 Mar 2012) Leuven, Belgium
1. Close of hands lighting candles, fade in to focus
2. Close of a man singing
3. Mid of hands lighting candles
4. Wide of people lighting candles
5. Mid of woman holding a child
6. Wide of service
7. Mid of relatives crying
8. Mid of Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard, Primate of Belgium, singing
9. Wide of people listening
10. Side view of parents with children listening
11. Close of mother and daughter listening
12. Wide of service
Sion, Switzerland
++NIGHT SHOTS++
13. Close of morgue sign in Swiss town of Sion
14. Mid of police guarding access to the morgue's entrance with flowers left as makeshift memorial behind them
15. Mid of hearse entering morgue ++not known if this hearse is transporting crash victim++
16. Mid of woman placing flowers inside gates of the morgue
17. Mid of flowers and candle
18. Mid of car leaving
19. Mid of hearse leaving ++not known if this hearse is transporting crash victim++
20. Mid of police ushering local residents away
21. SOUNDBITE (French) Noemie Besse, local resident:
"We put ourselves in the place of the parents in the place of the children and also in the place of those who came to their aid who must also have lived very difficult moments especially considering these were children."
22. Mid of car arriving at morgue
23. Mid of people inside a car arriving at morgue
24. SOUNDBITE (French) Victor (no surname given), local resident:
"We are doing everything to help the families, as these folks are foreigners, they are not Swiss, the children also are not Swiss and if it happened to us, we would be happy to find support."
25. Mid hearse leaving ++not known if this hearse is transporting crash victim++
26. Mid of flowers and candle outside morgue
STORYLINE:
Family members and friends gathered on Wednesday night in Saint Peter's Church, Leuven, to commemorate the victims of Tuesday's coach crash in Switzerland.
Belgium's Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard led the mass.
The bus carrying 52 people, including students of around age 12 from two different Belgian schools, a the tunnel wall shortly after 9 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Tuesday night on a highway near the southern town of Sierre, Switzerland.
The horrific accident in the short Tunnel de Geronde left the front of the bus mangled, trapping people inside.
Twenty-two school children and six adults including the driver were killed and another 24 children were hospitalised.
Meanwhile, a morgue in the alpine town of Sion became the site of an impromptu memorial for the victims of the crash.
Emotional local residents turned out to leave flowers and a candle inside the gates of the morgue on Wednesday night.
"We put ourselves in the place of the parents in the place of the children and also in the place of those who came to their aid who must also have lived very difficult moments especially considering these were children," said Noemie Besse.
One man spoke to reporters outside the morgue gates and said the residents of Sion were doing anything they can for the victims' families.
There has been no confirmation that the victims of this tragic accident are inside the morgue, although hearses have been seen throughout the afternoon entering and leaving the venue.
Authorities were still trying to work out how a modern bus, a rested driver and a safe tunnel could add up to such a tragedy.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...