Highlanders Pay Tribute To Presidential Couple

A delegation of highlanders travelled to Cracow on Sunday for the funeral of President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria.

Although black volcanic clouds wreaked havoc with international delegations due to attend, the weather in Cracow remained resolutely sunny, and the funeral proceeded under a cloudless sky.

The highlands lost one of their own in last week's fatal air crash, which killed 96 people. Mrs Bronislawa Orawiec-Loffler was amongst those that had flown to Katyn, Russia, to commemorate the Soviet massacre of the Polish elite in 1940. Mrs Orawiec-Loffler was a representative of the Association of Katyn Families - her uncle Franciszek Orawiec was one of those that perished in the wartime tragedy.

Mrs. Orawiec-Loffler was laid to rest yesterday in Poronin, neighbouring village of Zakopane. Acting president Bronislaw Komorowski, awarded her the posthumous decoration of the Cross of the Order of Poland Reborn.