Belgium is holding a day of mourning to remember the victims of bus crash.

Reuters - Belgian military aircraft began returning home the bodies of 22 children and six adults killed in a bus crash in Switzerland on Friday as the country prepared to observe a minute's silence to remember the victims.

Belgium is holding a day of mourning to remember the victims, most of them 12 years old, who were returning from a ski trip to the Belgian towns of Heverlee and Lommel. A minute of silence will be observed around the country at 11 a.m. (1000 GMT) and churches and cathedrals planned to ring bells for several minutes after the silence. Radio stations changed their playlists to reflect the somber mood.

Flags were flown at half-mast on public buildings across Belgium, the Netherlands and the Swiss canton of Valais where the accident happened. Friday's national day of mourning is Belgium's first since 2004, called to remember 24 people killed in a gas explosion near the town of Ghislenghien.