Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Poland Holds Funeral for Late President, First Lady VOA News 18 April 2010 People stand along a street as a hearse carrying the coffin of the late Polish President Lech Kaczynski arrives in Kraków, southern Poland, Sunday, April 18, 2010 Photo: AP People stand along a street as a hearse carrying the coffin of the late Polish President Lech Kaczynski arrives in Kraków, southern Poland, Sunday, April 18, 2010 Poland's southern city of Krakówâ is holding a state funeral Sunday for late President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria, who were among 96 people killed in a plane crash in Russia April 10. Thousands of mourners stood in silence as a funeral cortege passed by in Krakow, taking the first couple's coffins to a funeral Mass in St. Mary's Basilica. They will then be buried in historic Wawel Cathedral. A military plane carrying the coffins of Mr. and Mrs. Kaczynski left the Polish capital, Warsaw, early Sunday. The plane flew at a low altitude because of the ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano covering much of northern Europe. The funeral completes a week of mourning across the country. On Saturday, tens of thousands of people gathered in a square in central Warsaw for a memorial service for the victims of the disaster. Their names were read aloud during the service. Dozens of world leaders planned to travel to Krakówâ, but many were forced to cancel their plans due to hazardous flying conditions. U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Britain's Prince Charles and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper are among those who announced they could not attend the funeral. But presidents of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia traveled to Krakówâ by car. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev flew to Krakówâ from Moscow. Mr. Kaczynski and 95 others died while on the way to a memorial service honoring 22,000 Polish officers executed by Soviet forces in the Katyn forest in 1940. In addition to Mr. Kaczynski, last Saturday's crash near Smolensk, Russia killed the chief of Poland's armed forces, the director of the central bank, the deputy foreign minister and other top officials.  Interim President Komorowski said the date for Poland's presidential election will be announced this week. Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP. .