Polish President Lech Kaczynski, Wife Lie in State

WARSAW, Poland, April 13, 2010— -- The flag-draped coffins of Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria were placed side by side in Warsaw's presidential palace today and the gates opened so Poles could come pay their final respects.

Mourners filed past, kneeling at the coffins. One of the most poignant images of the day was first daughter Marta visiting her parents as they lay in state.

The images were displayed on large screens on the street in front of the palace where thousands more either stood in silence or headed to the back of the line into the palace that stretched as far as the eye could see.

A sea of candles and flowers was tended to by scout troops. They waded through, collecting the dead flowers and extinguished candles that left wax all over the street.

Maria Kaczynska's body arrived back in Warsaw this morning, two days after her husband's. She had been one of the many unidentified bodies of Saturday's crash that killed 96, identified Monday thanks to her engraved wedding ring.

Her coffin was met at the airport by her daughter and the president's twin brother Jaroslaw, before making its way to the palace as throngs on the side of the road threw flowers at the hearse.

The plane crash Saturday in western Russia killed 96 people, most from a presidential delegation that included many of the country's top political, military and religious leaders.

"I've never ever seen something like this in my life," said Polish journalist Piotr Krasko. "I was covering a lot of horrific events like Katrina, 9/11 in the U.S. ... But for the very first time in my life, it's happening to my nation, my people, my president."

A large red screen read "Katyn 2010," echoing the tragic irony noted by many in the crowd that the delegation of political and military elite was on its way to attend a ceremony commemorating 22,000 Polish officers murdered by the Soviets that very day 70 years ago.

"It's very, very difficult to talk about it at this stage because we are still in a very big shock," said Beata Kozlowska, a woman in the crowd outside the presidential palace.