At least 22 children were killed in Switzerland after their bus crashed on the way home from a ski trip. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
By msnbc.com news services
Updated at 6:06 p.m. ET: SION, Switzerland/HEVERLEE, Belgium -- A torchlight march. Ravioli and meatball dinners. Rides in a funicular railway. A sing-a-long and a dress-up casino evening.
Those were some of the things that made last week "mega-cool" for 24 sixth graders at the St. Lambertus school in a hotel in Saint-Luc, high in the Swiss Alps.
The good times turned tragic Tuesday when their bus, which also carried kids from a second Belgian school, crashed inside a Swiss tunnel on its way home. Twenty-two youngsters from the two different schools died, along with six adults.
The dead included "teacher Frank," who had set up the native-language Dutch blog that had kept parents and schoolchildren who stayed home informed about all the fun.
On Wednesday parents were flown to Switzerland to find out whether their children were still alive. Sixteen St. Lambertus students were confirmed to have survived, but the fate of eight others was unknown, at least to their families.
Nine days earlier, they had left for the holiday of their school lives in the snow-covered Alps of Switzerland, an annual highlight for St. Lambertus kids. The school is a typical, small Roman Catholic institution of some 200 pupils in Heverlee, on the outskirts of the old university town Leuven, and represents the broad mix of social classes of the municipality.
The week began flawlessly.
"This is our first blog posting," wrote Frank Van Kerckhove, the teacher who set up the blog. "The bus trip was very smooth. There was little traffic. We watched the movie Avatar (and) no one became car sick on the climb" into the Alps.
PhotoBlog: Grief, disbelief as Belgian schoolchildren learn of crash that killed classmates
In the days that followed, the youngsters posted about their vacation with youthful exuberance.
"This afternoon we had soup and ravioli, very delicious," one girl wrote on March 6.
Relatives of the students were grateful that Van Kerckhove, one of six adults who died in the crash, had set up the site.
Most of the victims were 12-year-olds returning from a ski vacation in the Swiss Alps. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
"The blog was incredible. It had so many great pictures," said Anne De Roo, whose three children are former students at the school. The fate of her nephew was now uncertain.
"He constantly gave us news about what happened, the sked of the day," she said of Van Kerckhove. His last words came down to 'we see you back soon,'" she said.
The kids would blog under Van Kerckhove's tutelage.
"Today was totally the best. The adventurous walk was tiring, but mega-cool," one girl wrote. "We won first prize for cleanest room. Tomorrow it's going to be colder. Byyyeeee!"
On March 10, another boy wrote: "Things are super here in Saint-Luc. The skiing, the weather, the food. It's not bad at all. Tomorrow I play in the Muppet Show. ... I have seen quite a few dogs. I'm now reading the book 'Why Dogs Have Wet Noses.' Very interesting! I miss you all."
Toward week's end, the posts revealed early signs of homesickness.
"Dear mama and papa. I like it here a lot, but I miss you. Love you. Kisses." And: "Hey, mama, papa ... It is super here and the sun shines the whole day. But I do miss you! XXX."
The posts came with scores of photos the youngsters made during their trip.
On the St. Lambertus school gate Wednesday, staff put up drawings made by students to honor the teacher. "I'll never forget you, Teacher Frank," one read. "You are the greatest ever!"
And outside the school, parents spoke highly of Van Kerckhove. Teary-eyed, some recalled his last post, dated March 11 — the eve of the return trip.
"Tomorrow will be a busy day and I do not know if I can write a blog posting," Van Kerckhove wrote. "But on Wednesday we'll be back, all of us."
'There are no words'
Swiss President Evelyn Widmer-Schlumpf and Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, speaking at a news conference Wednesday in the town of Sion near the crash site, paid tribute to the victims and the 200 rescue workers who pulled injured from the wreckage.
"We are here to understand better, there is consternation. When a drama like this happens, when we lose a child or have a child suffering in hospital, there are no words. It is important to console the families," Di Rupo said.
Twenty-one of the dead were Belgian nationals and seven were Dutch, according to Swiss officials. The Dutch foreign ministry said three Dutch children in the bus were injured. Most children aboard were aged about 12.
Belgium plans to hold a national day of mourning.
About 200 police, firefighters, doctors and medics worked through the night at the scene, while 12 ambulances and eight helicopters took the injured to hospitals in the region.
Widmer-Schlumpf, a mother of three, said that Switzerland was doing everything to support victims and their families.
Olivier Elsig, prosecutor for Valais canton (state), said that video surveillance images from the tunnel, where the speed limit is 100 kmh (62 mph), showed no other vehicle was involved in the accident and the road was dry and in "good condition."
"The bus did not appear to be travelling too fast," Elsig told the news conference. "I immediately ordered an autopsy of the deceased driver."
Police Cantonale Valais / AFP - Getty Images
Rescuers are seen next to the wreckage of a bus after it crashed in a tunnel in Sierre, Switzerland.
The bus had travelled only 15-20 km (10 10 13 miles) from the Swiss ski resort of Val d'Anniviers before entering the tunnel. "The children were all wearing seat belts but the shock of the crash was violent," he said.
There were three possible causes for the crash: a technical problem; the driver may have become ill; or human error, according to Elsig.
About 100 family members, who flew to Geneva from Belgium, were taken by buses to the Valais canton. Some began visiting injured children in Sion hospital, while others were being counseled by psychologists in crisis groups.
A mortuary was set up and bodies were being identified.
Most pupils were from the towns of Lommel and Heverlee in Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region.
A police photograph showed the bus had smashed into the side of a tunnel, with the front ripped open, broken glass and debris strewn on the road and rescue workers climbing in through side windows. It was later towed away from the scene.
Police were alerted to the accident by images on surveillance cameras in the tunnel.
"It gives you chills down the spine. Witnessing such a drama involving children takes away my voice," police spokesman Jean-Marie Bornet told Swiss television earlier.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
