Ethiopians hold mass funeral ceremony for crash victims

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Thousands of Ethiopians have turned out to a mass funeral ceremony in the capital one week after the plane crash that killed 157 people.

Some victims' relatives fainted and fell to the ground during the procession through Addis Ababa on Sunday. Seventeen empty caskets were laid to rest in a remembrance of the victims from Ethiopia.

The victims came from 35 countries. Officials have begun delivering bags of earth to family members instead of the remains of their loved ones because the identification process is going to take such a long time.

Many families have held religious ceremonies and the grieving also have gathered at the rural, dusty crash site outside Ethiopia's capital.