Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Reynders (L), President of European Council Herman Van Rompuy (C) and Pierre Lellouche, French secretary of state for European affairs talk during the mourning ceremony for the victims of Sierre's coach accident in southwest Switzerland outside the EU's headquarters in Brussels, capital of Belgium, March 16, 2012, a national mourning day. A total of 28 people died in the crash, including 22 children from two schools of Lommel and Heverlee in Belgium, who were returning to Belgium from a skiing holiday. (Xinhua/Thierry Monasse)
BRUSSELS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Belgium held a day of national mourning on Friday for the victims in a fatal bus accident that occurred in southwest Switzerland on Tuesday night.
Flags were lowered to half-mast in public buildings across the country, which observed a minute of silence at 11:00 (1000 GMT), when buses, metros and trains all halted, followed by long ringing of church bells.
In Stekske primary school of Lommel, whose students were among the victims, flowers, candles and toys were piled on the playground and blue balloons were tied to railings in memory of the dead.
"I can feel the heart-broken pain of their parents, though I do not have a child of my own," said one resident of the small town Dutch-bordered Lommel, which is a close-knit community.
Meanwhile, in St Lambertus in Heverlee near Leuven, another school of the victims, children and teachers expressed their mourn flying white balloons after the minute of silence.
According to local media, two military planes carrying the bodies, which had been identified by Thursday, had reached Melsbroek military airport in Belgium.
The report that the driver of the bus was trying a change a disc on the bus' entertainment system shortly before the deadly crash still has not yet been confirmed by investigators.
People mourn for the victims of Sierre's coach accident in southwest Switzerland outside the EU's headquarters in Brussels, capital of Belgium. March 16, 2012, a national mourning day. A total of 28 people died in the crash, including 22 children from two schools of Lommel and Heverlee, who were returning to Belgium from a skiing holiday. (Xinhua/Thierry Monasse)
People mourn for the victims of Sierre's coach accident in southwest Switzerland outside the EU's headquarters in Brussels, capital of Belgium, March 16, 2012, a national mourning day. A total of 28 people died in the crash, including 22 children from two schools of Lommel and Heverlee, who were returning to Belgium from a skiing holiday. (Xinhua/Thierry Monasse)
A women lays flowers as part of a memorial in tribute of victims of a bus crash in Switzerland in front of 't Stekske school in Lommel of Belgium, March 16, 2012. Belgium is holding a national day of mourning on Friday for the 28 people died in the bus accident, including 22 children from two schools of Lommel and Heverlee, who were returning to Belgium from a skiing holiday. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)
Neighbours and relatives of victims of a bus crash in Switzerland attend a memorial in front of 't Stekske school in Lommel of Belgium, March 16, 2012. Belgium is holding a national day of mourning on Friday for the 28 people died in the bus accident, including 22 children from two schools of Lommel and Heverlee, who were returning to Belgium from a skiing holiday. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)
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