Pele's casket arrives at the world's tallest cemetery, his final resting place

Record ID: 1705088

  • Title: Pele's casket arrives at the world's tallest cemetery, his final resting place
  • Date: 3rd January 2023
  • Summary: FANS RECORDING ARRIVAL WITH CELLPHONES (MUTE) DRONE VIEW OF CEMENTERY'S FACADE
  • Embargoed: 17th January 2023 17:14
  • Keywords: Brazil Funeral Pele Santos
  • Location: SANTOS, BRAZIL
  • City: SANTOS, BRAZIL
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: South America / Central America,Soccer,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA003016203012023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: After being driven through the streets of Santos on Tuesday (January 3) on a firetruck, Brazil soccer legend Pele's casket arrived at Ecumenical Memorial Necropolis Cemetery, a 14-story vertical cemetery.
    According to reports, the ninth floor was chosen in the world's largest vertical cemetery to honour Pele's father Dondinho who wore the number nine shirt when he played soccer.
    The cemetery, the player's final resting place, was built in 1983 reportedly has more than 14-thousand vaults, a tropical garden and a classic car museum.
    Emotional crowds watched Pele's coffin procession after 230,000 mourners, including the country's new president, filed past his open casket to pay homage.
    Young and old embraced as the funeral procession wound its way through the costal city's streets for hours, with some fans in tears and others cheering and chanting for a national hero who rose from barefoot poverty to become one of the greatest and best-known athletes in modern history.
    Pele died last week at the age of 82 after battling colon cancer for a year.
    His funeral procession left from the city's Vila Belmiro stadium, home of Santos Football Club, the team Pele played for from 1956 to 1974, scoring more than 1,000 goals. It departed after a 24-hour wake which saw fans queue for hours to pay their respects, even overnight, according to the club.
    (Production: Miguel Lo Bianco, Leonardo Benassatto, Sergio Queiroz, Gerardo Gomez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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