Tutu's body lies in state for second day in S.Africa
31 December 2021, 07:00 pm | Updated: 27 November 2024, 06:35 am
Archbishop Desmond Tutu's dead body lay in state on Friday for a second day, giving South Africans a final chance to pay tribute on the eve of his funeral.BSS/AFP.
A church band, which included a preschooler trumpeter, performed outside the church as the cortSge pulled up to bring back the modest pinewood coffin containing one of the titans of South Africa's history.
Tutu's successor, Thabo Makgoba, waved a chalice of burning incense over the coffin before pall bearers -- including Anglican vicars -- took the coffin from a silver Mercerdes SUV hearse.
They slowly walked up the stairs into the cathedral where Tutu preached for a decade.
Members of Tutu's family hugged and consoled each other in front of the church as the body arrived around 0810 am (0610 GMT). The globally revered anti-apartheid icon died peacefully aged 90 on Sunday. He is to be cremated and his ashes will be buried at the weekend.
