MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) – Hundreds of mourners paid emotional tribute Saturday to 10 senior citizens who lost their lives in a Chilean bus crash, recalling their love for life and for each other.

Cantor Eli Perlman, the spiritual leader of the Jewish Congregation of Concordia, where six of the victims had worshipped, recited the names of the dead. Among the crowd of almost 400 people was Gov. Jon S. Corzine.

“They worked hard,” Perlman said. “They played by the rules. They raised their families. And then they went on a journey together as friends to climb to the heights of the mountains in a faraway land.”

“But they did not stop there. They continued to even greater heights … the glorious heights of God’s heaven. They left Monroe Township wanting to be together as friends, and now these most precious friends will be together forever with God,” said Perlman.

The victims – all in their 60s and 70s – were part of a 64-member B’nai B’rith group traveling aboard the cruise ship Millennium. During a stop in Chile, they were on a side excursion on a tour bus Wednesday when it tumbled more than 300 feet down a mountainside.

Many had known each other their entire lives, and had decided to spend their retirement together in a planned community.

The New Jerseyans killed were identified by Chilean authorities as Marian Diamond, 76; Hans Wilhelm Otto Eggers, 72, and his wife, Maria Eggers, 71; Barbara Rubin, 69, and her husband, Robert Rubin, 72; Arthur Joseph Kovar, 67, and his wife, Frieda Kovar, 74; Shirley Bier, 76, and her husband, Marvin Bier, 79; and Carole Ellen Ruchelman, 63.

A couple from Stamford, Conn., Linda Greenfield, 63, and Ira Greenfield, 68, also were killed. Their funeral will be Sunday at Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford, said Rabbi Daniel Cohen.

Funerals for the Kovars also were planned for Sunday. Services for Marian Diamond, the Rubins and the Biers were scheduled for Monday. Funeral arrangements for the other victims were still pending.

Chilean officials are investigating the crash, which happened after the bus swerved to avoid an approaching truck. The Chilean driver was injured and remained hospitalized. Officials have said the bus was not certified by local authorities to carry passengers.

At Spiro and Angie’s, a diner near the community where the seniors lived, co-owner Angela Mastoras remembered serving many of them last week, just before they left for the vacation.

“They were all very happy they were going to Chile, and just excited to be leaving,” she said. “It’s just so sad.”

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