Plane with bodies of crash victims lands in Belgium

BRUSSELS-Agence France-Presse

Police officers carry on March 16, 2012 the coffin of one of the 28 victims of Sierre's coach crash, to load it into a Belgian military cargo aircraft, heading for Belgium, at Sion airport, western Switzerland. AFP Photo

Two military planes landed near Brussels on Friday with the bodies of the 22 children and six adults who died in a Swiss tunnel bus crash this week, Belgian media reported.

The aircraft had taken off earlier from Sion, Switzerland, carrying the bodies of the 28 victims who died when their bus slammed into a tunnel wall late on Tuesday.

Eight of the 24 children injured in the horrific accident had returned home overnight, landing at Melsbroek military airport near Brussels before boarding buses and cars with relieved loved ones accompanied by a police escort.

The bus, which was carrying 52 passengers, was travelling from Val d'Anniviers towards the Swiss town of Sion on the A9 motorway when the accident happened at 9:15 pm Tuesday (2015 GMT).
 
The bus suddenly swerved to the right and smashed into the wall of the tunnel. The impact of the crash was so violent that the front of the bus was seriously damaged, trapping many of the passengers, said a police statement.