SUDAN: BASKETBALL - Star Manute Bol is buried in his family's home town in south Sudan

Record ID: 436294

  • Title: SUDAN: BASKETBALL - Star Manute Bol is buried in his family's home town in south Sudan
  • Date: 6th July 2010
  • Summary: GROUP OF ELDERS RECITING CEREMONIAL RITES VARIOUS OF CROWD LOOKING ON CROWD PUSHING TO SEE THE CASKET VARIOUS OF FUNERAL SERVICE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) WARAP STATE GOVERNOR, NYANDENG MALEK DELIECH, SAYING "Manute was an international figure. He concerns all of the Sudanese people and particularly the Warap people. We lost a great man, all of us are crying." BOL'S FAMILY CRYING
  • Embargoed: 21st July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sudan
  • Country: Sudan
  • Topics: Obituaries,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA41S62HCHTKHOW9SEUCKPXLXBE
  • Story Text: Basketball star Manute Bol was buried in his family's home town in south Sudan on Sunday (July 04) and hundreds of mourners paid tribute to the man whose talent took him from the grazing lands of Africa to NBA fame.
    Sudan-born Bol, a phenomenon through 10 NBA seasons thanks to his 7-foot, 7-inch (2.31 metre) frame and ability to block opponents' shots, died in a U.S. hospital on June 19 aged 47.
    Bol herded his family's cattle in south Sudan as a boy and was spotted playing basketball in Khartoum by a visiting U.S. coach.
    After his NBA career he continued to focus his time and wealth on humanitarian work in his underdeveloped homeland.
    A plane carrying Bol's body arrived in south Sudan's capital Juba on Saturday. On Sunday, members of his extended family and local politicians accompanied Bol's remains on a two-hour plane ride and four-hour road trek to Turalei, his remote home town in the region's Warrap state.
    The charity he worked with building schools said the cause of death was kidney failure and a painful skin disease, Stevens- Johnson syndrome, which worsened after his last trip to Sudan during the country's April elections.
    "He used to give hope to all people in everything, education, health, development. Manute was the only hope for all the people here," said Bol's brother, Nikola Bol.
    His wife said she was planning to stay in Sudan for a few days with their three sons and one daughter before returning to their U.S. home in Olathe, Kansas.
    Hundreds of people from surrounding villages walked to Turalei for the burial and lined the road from outside the settlement right up to his family's mud-walled hut.
    Young men carried pictures of the sports star and a local basketball team accompanied the coffin that was lowered into the grave lined with cattle hides.
    "He used to give hope to all people in everything, education, health, development. Manute was the only hope for all the people here," said Warap state Governor, Nyandeng Malek Deliech.
    Bol, who played for Washington, Golden State, Philadelphia and Miami, is tied for the record as the tallest person to play in the NBA. He also owns the career record for most blocked shots per 48 minutes of playing time.
    The oil-producing territory is just over six months away from the scheduled start of a referendum on whether it should split away from Sudan as an independent country, a vote promised under the 2005 accord that ended the civil war.
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