Polish first lady's body returned

**The body of Poland’s First Lady, Maria Kaczynska, is to be flown to Warsaw to lie in state alongside that of her husband, President Lech Kaczynski.**Poland has seen an outpouring of grief since the couple and scores of other top Polish officials died in a plane crash in western Russia on Saturday.

Poland’s parliament will hold a special session later to discuss the disaster.

President Kaczynski’s body returned to Poland on Sunday. The funerals are expected to be held at the weekend.

The bodies of the first couple will begin lying in state on Tuesday or Wednesday.

DNA identification

Ninety-six people died when the plane clipped tree-tops as it tried to land at a former air base north of Smolensk city on Saturday morning.

Russian officials say the pilots of the Soviet-built Tu-154 airliner had ignored weather warnings and repeatedly tried to land.

Polish prosecutors have stressed there is no evidence the crew were pressured by those onboard to ignore the advice.

The president and his party of senior Polish military and political officials had been due to attend a memorial for the Polish victims of a World War II massacre by Soviet secret police at Katyn.

At least 130 family members have been flown to the Russian capital to help forensic scientists identify their bodies. They are being aided by Polish and Russian psychologists.

Relatives have identified 45 of the victims, the Russian health minister said on Tuesday, reports AFP news agency.

Officials have warned that some of the bodies are so badly disfigured that DNA evidence will be needed.

President Kaczynski’s body was identified on Saturday in Smolensk by his identical twin Jaroslaw, a former prime minister.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have devoted much time to dealing with the aftermath of the crash, and a day of mourning was held in Russia on Monday.

Russia’s handling of the tragedy has been widely appreciated by many in Poland, though others suggest the thaw in relations may not last, the BBC’s Duncan Kennedy reports from Warsaw.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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