**Thousands of people are gathering in Krakow for the state funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, killed in a crash which traumatised the nation.**After a funeral Mass, the president will be buried in the crypt of Wawel Cathedral, the final resting place of Poland’s kings and national heroes.
He and 95 others died eight days ago when their plane crashed in fog en route to a ceremony in Russia.
Many world leaders cannot attend due to flights grounded by Iceland’s volcano.
Russian President Dimitri Medvedev was still hoping to attend the funeral as of Saturday night but many other world leaders have been kept away by the travel disruption caused by the spread of volcanic ash from Iceland.
Final resting-place
The state funeral will begin with a the Mass at Krakow’s St Mary’s Basilica.
From the city’s mediaeval market square, the coffins of the first couple will be carried along a route lined with Polish flags with black ribbons and photos of Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria.
Their final resting place will be the royal crypt in the historic Wawel cathedral, alongside the nation’s kings and heroes.
The decision to entomb a leader seen as divisive by many during his lifetime in such a hallowed place has sparked protests.
Huge crowds are expected to attend the funeral after a week of national mourning.
The Polish government airliner crashed in western Russia on 10 April. Investigators believe pilot error caused the plane to hit tree-tops in heavy fog in the Smolensk region, where the Polish delegation had meant to attend a memorial for Poles massacred by Stalin’s secret police at Katyn in World War II.
Key Polish political and military leaders were killed in the crash, including the heads of all three branches of Poland’s military.
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people took part in an open-air memorial service in the centre of Warsaw.
US President Barack Obama will not attend Mr Kacyznski’s state funeral on Sunday because of the travel chaos across Europe, the White House said.
Other figures unable to attend include the UK’s Prince of Wales, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Mrs Merkel, who was due to fly back to Germany from a visit to the US on Friday and had planned to attend the funeral, had to fly to Lisbon instead where she spent the night.
With all German airports still closed, she flew on to Italy on Saturday and continued her journey home by road.
A number of eastern European leaders have said they will attend by driving to Krakow.
All airports in Poland remained closed on Saturday, including Balice in Krakow where most of the dignitaries were to arrive on Sunday.
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