Thousands of people, many visibly shocked,
have gathered outside of the presidential palace
in the Polish capital Warsaw
after President Lech Kaczynski
and dozens of top officials were killed
in a plane crash in western Russia.
The Prime Minister Donald Tusk
called the crash the most tragic event
in Poland's recent history.
The plane came down in a forest
as it's trying to land in fog at Smolensk airport.
There were no survivors.
Adam Easton reports from Warsaw.
Thousands of people gathered outside the presidential palace
in Warsaw in a spontaneous show of mourning.
Families, young and old, brought flowers.
Others lit candles.
The pavement in front of the building
is carpeted with flickering flames.
The scale of the disaster is unprecedented -
not just the president,
but most of the commanders of the armed forces,
many leaders from the country's main opposition party
and senior state and church officials died in the crash.