Poles pay tribute as first couple lie in state

Mourners threw flowers at Maria Kaczynska\'s cortege after her body was flown home following their deaths in an air crash in Russia on Saturday, with officials saying they would be buried alongside kings in Krakow castle.

Russian officials meanwhile bolstered theories that pilot error was to blame for the disaster which killed 96 people, mostly dignitaries, as they headed towards a memorial for Poles massacred by the Soviets in World War II.

"We want to say prayers and pay our last respects in person," student Tomasz Pytko, who hitch-hiked hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the city of Rzeszow, said as he stood in a queue of hundreds waiting to see the Kaczynskis. Related article: Neighbours recall Kaczynskis as modest and friendly

Draped with red and white Polish flags, the couple\'s closed coffins were placed side by side in an ornate room at the presidential palace as their daughter Marta, 30, bowed at the foot of each one.

Lawmakers from both houses of parliament held an emotionally charged special joint session on Tuesday to commemorate the crash of the presidential jet, singing the national anthem and offering prayers for the victims.

World leaders gathered in Washington for a summit on nuclear security also observed a moment of silence in memory of the Polish president and other victims. Related article: Grieving Poles line streets as president\'s body comes home

Kaczynski, 60, and his wife, 66, will be buried on Sunday in Wawel castle in the southern city of Krakow, Poland\'s PAP news agency said, quoting officials.

The crypt in the castle\'s cathedral is the last resting place of kings from Poland\'s past monarchy, as well as the founding father of the republic, Jozef Pilsudski, who died in 1935.

Earlier a guard of honour stood to attention at the airport as the body of Kaczynska arrived from Moscow. The president\'s identical twin, conservative former premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski, knelt before the coffin.

"We want to honour Mrs. Kaczynska, she was in the shadow of her husband but she seemed to be a very warm, a very decent woman," said Agnieszka 34, a public service worker.

Theories about the cause of the crash continued to swirl.

Investigators said a third black box recorder was found on Monday at the crash site in Smolensk, western Russia, and will be analysed in Poland alongside Russian specialists.

Air traffic controllers who handled the plane were meanwhile quoted as saying that the crew of the ageing Tupolev Tu-154 refused three times to heed advice to divert to another airport.

Investigators have also ruled out a fire or explosion as the cause of the plane crash, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said.

Polish prosecutors said there was no evidence the crew had been pressured by those onboard to override the advice so as not to miss the 70th anniversary memorial ceremony Polish officers massacred at Katyn near Smolensk.

The accident, and Russia\'s swift and grief-stricken reaction, appears to have brought the historic foes together, with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin taking charge of the crash probe.

Almost half of the bodies -- 45 of the dead -- have been formally identified in Russia by relatives flown in to try to speed up the process, Russian Health Minister Tatyana Golikova said. Related article: Half of Polish air crash dead identified, says Russia

A conservative nationalist, Kaczynski was politically divisive both at home and abroad but his death has brought unity to Poland and political figures have been looking towards the future.

Acting president Bronislaw Komorowski, the former parliamentary speaker appointed after the accident, said he could set a date for new presidential elections by Wednesday.

The vote must be held before the end of June. A presidential ballot was due later this year in any case, with Komorowski, a liberal, expected to run against Kaczynski.

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