A grief-stricken Poland came to a standstill yesterday as the body of Lech Kaczynski, the president was returned home to Warsaw after Saturday's air crash in Russia in which he and dozens of the country's political and military elite died.

The red and white national banner fluttered over his coffin, while a guard of honour stood at attention; his weeping daughter, Marta, and his twin brother, Jaroslaw, leader of the opposition Law and Justice party, looked on.

Elsewhere in the Polish capital, thousands of people crowded in front of the presidential palace, laying flowers and lighting candles. The country came to a halt for two minutes at noon as sirens blared to remember the dead. Polish flags decorated with black ribbons flew from houses and balconies.