Kathmandu, May 31. Canada lowered all federal flags to commemorate the death of 215 children, whose remains have found in a site of an indigenous school.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau through his Twitter account said, “To honor the 215 children whose lives were taken at the former Kamloops residential school and all Indigenous children who never made it home, the survivors, and their families, I have asked that the Peace Tower and all federal buildings be flown at half-mast.”

The children were students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia that closed in 1978. More than 150,000 First Nations children were said to have required to attend state-funded Christian schools until the 1970s. It was done to integrate them into the Canadian society. It is also said that they were forced to convert into Christianity and not allowed to speak their native languages. Many were beaten and verbally abused, and up to 6,000 are said to have died.

The Canadian government apologized in Parliament in 2008 and admitted that physical and sexual abuse in the schools was rampant. Many students recalled being beaten for speaking their native languages, along with losing touch with their parents and customs.

Toronto Mayor John Tory said city flags would stay lowered for nine days — 215 hours — to represent each life.

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto said, ” This sad story is shocking but not surprising to students of history, I don’t think we know yet when these deaths occurred.”

The bodies of children discovered included children as young as three years old.