The coffin containing the remains of "King" Pelé walked the streets of Santos (southeast) on Tuesday in a funeral procession greeted by the crowd, at the end of the vigil which attracted more than 230,000 fans to the stadium. first exploits of the Brazilian footballer.
The procession's final destination is the final resting place of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, a mausoleum within the largest vertical cemetery in the world, a 14-storey building overlooking the stadium of Santos FC, the club where the triple world champion shone from 1956 to 1974. Back, in pictures, on 24 hours of funeral vigil.
Directed by:
Olivier JUSZCZAK
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé, spent a month in Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo until his death Thursday at age 82 from cancer.
Pelé, the only player in history to have won three editions of the World Cup (1958, 1962, 1970), had been hospitalized at the end of November in the middle of the World Cup in Qatar, which he had nevertheless been able to follow in part at the television.
A three-day national mourning was decreed on Thursday, "a mark of respect" after the death of Edson Arantes do Nascimento.
The center of Sao Paulo was calm on Friday, many Paulistas having left the big city for the end of year celebrations.
Brazil observed its third day of national mourning on Saturday after the death of the legendary footballer, to whom the main European football championships paid tribute.
80 km away, in Santos, where the eternal number 10 shone from 1956 to 1974 at Santos FC, a funeral wake was to be organized for twenty-four hours from Monday.
"Since I was very young, I have heard my father, who was his age, talking about him," Caroline Fornari, a housewife near the Vila Belmiro stadium, told AFP, "it's very sad.
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“He meant everything to football.
From the southern states, Rio or Sao Paulo, thousands of Brazilians converged on Monday at the Santos stadium to express their "gratitude" and pray to the remains covered with white flowers of the legendary Pelé.
The 16,000-seat Vila Belmiro stadium had been hosting a 24-hour vigil open to the public since 10 a.m.
Edinho carried his father's coffin as he entered the compound.
Before putting his hand on his forehead.
Like his daughters, Kelly Cristina and Flavia Christina, and their children, well present in the stadium.
Then, thousands of Brazilians, sometimes moved to tears, and football personalities marched past the coffin of "King" Pelé on Monday.
All day, a line of supporters snaked for one to two kilometers in front of the stadium in the city located 75 kilometers southeast of Sao Paulo, waiting to be able to enter.
Access to the Santos FC stadium was authorized "without interruption" until Tuesday at 10 a.m.
An hour before the departure of the procession, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva came specially to Santos from Brasilia to collect himself in front of the remains of Pelé.
Arrived near the stadium by helicopter, Lula, who took office on Sunday, immediately offered his condolences to Pelé's widow.
“Farewell to the king.
Rest in peace, Pelé,” Lula tweeted afterwards.
The funeral of Pelé will take place this Tuesday in the intimacy of the family, after a procession following the coffin in the streets of Santos.
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