Church bells toll in Poland 1 week after plane crash that killed president, 95 others

Church bells toll in Poland 1 week on

WARSAW, Poland — Church bells across Poland have tolled and an emergency siren has wailed to mark the minute a week ago that a plane crashed in western Russia, killing Poland’s president, his wife, and many of the country’s civilian and military elite.

The plane crashed at 8:56 a.m. last Saturday, killing all 96 aboard, and plunging the nation into deep grief.

The bells tolling are a precursor to a giant outdoor memorial Saturday in Warsaw’s Pilsudski Square that is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of mourners.

It is the first of two days of somber ceremonies. On Sunday, a state funeral in Krakow is slated to be attended by nearly 100 foreign dignitaries, if the volcanic ash cloud emanating from Iceland does not hamper their travel.