The bodies of three members of a Tauranga school group killed in a bus crash in Kenya are expected to arrive home today.
Nineteen-year-old Caitlin Dickson and couple Brian and Grace Johnston died last week when the minivan they were travelling in rolled into a ditch during a Bethlehem College mission trip.
College principal Eoin Crosbie said their bodies were expected to arrive in New Zealand today and separate funeral services at the college were scheduled to take place for Ms Dickson on Thursday and for the Johnstons on Saturday.
There would also be a vigil for the victims at the school on Wednesday to help students, staff and family members with the grieving process.
"It's a difficult position but we'll work through that. We've obviously got a whole community that's grieving and the funerals obviously will assist with that, but as students come back [to school after their holidays] we've got a chapel set aside as a place where they can go and we'll just talk to them and support them and work through it," Mr Crosbie told Newstalk ZB .
"Life's got to go on so you just get on with the business and support people as you do it."
College board of trustees chairman Greg Hollister-Jones said a memorial was held at the Bethlehem Farmers Market on Saturday morning and there had been a steady flow of mourners through a vigil at the college chapel.
The 12 students and staff who were taken to hospital or received medical treatment have been moved to Nairobi Hospital, with injuries ranging from bruises to broken bones.
Five students and staff who were not in the minivan had been cleared to leave and were travelling back with their families, said Mr Hollister-Jones.
They were expected to speak at a press conference at the college before the vigil on Wednesday.
A second group would be leaving a few days after, while one student, Aneka Jones, would probably stay behind in hospital after suffering a dislocated hip and fractured pelvis in the crash.
Mr Hollister-Jones said her parents had flown over to support her.
The driver of the minibus and inspirational figure in the college project to build the Ark Quest Education Centre, Nairobi lecturer Christopher Mmata, was also killed.
- Jamie Morton of the New Zealand Herald and APNZ staff
