Mourners gather in Lommel in the Flanders region of Belgium to commemorate the 17 victims the town lost in last week's bus crash in Switzerland.<br/> <br />28 people, including 22 children, died on March 13 when a school bus returning from a ski trip crashed into the wall of a tunnel.<br/> <br />Some 9,000 people attended the ceremony, and a further few thousand who could not fit in the arena watched on big screens from outside.<br/> <br />The Belgian king and queen paid tribute to the victims and families.<br/> <br />The Dutch crown prince and princess, and various politicians from Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands were also in attendance.<br/> <br />The mayor of Lommel said that the tragedy had eclipsed the coming of spring, and that too much of the future had been lost in the accident.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) LOMMEL MAYOR PETER VAN VELDHOVEN HOLDING SPEECH, SAYING:<br/> <br />"The snow in our heart does not allow a new spring. Can we imagine something worse? Parents who lose that which is most dear and beautiful."<br/> <br />Relatives took turns to read eulogies to those they had lost, as a picture of the deceased was shown on a screen.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) MOTHER WHO LOST HER SON NICOLAI IN CRASH, SAYING:<br/> <br />"We will always remember you as our sweet little teddy-bear. And now we are standing here together to honour you."<br/> <br />Another ceremony is planned on Thursday for seven children killed from a school in Heverlee, some 25 kilometres east of the capital Brussels.<br/> <br />Nick Rowlands, Reuters.
