Poland's first couple lie in state

The body, in a wooden casket draped with Poland's white-and-red flag, arrived in a military plane at Warsaw airport where it was met by her only child, Marta, and by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, her brother-in-law who was also the twin of the late President.

Thousands of Warsaw residents lined the route to the palace, putting bouquets of tulips and roses on top of the hearse carrying the body. A state funeral is expected to take place this weekend.

The coffin of Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last President of Poland's government-in-exile in London during the communist era, who also died in the crash aged 90, was also due to be put on public display.

Investigators yesterday suggested that human error may have been to blame for the crash that killed 96, saying there were no technical problems with the Soviet-made plane.