SRI LANKA: MOURNERS QUEUE FOR HOURS TO PAY LAST TRIBUTES TO FORMER PRIME MINISTER DUDLEY SENANAYAKA.

Record ID: 646560

  • Title: SRI LANKA: MOURNERS QUEUE FOR HOURS TO PAY LAST TRIBUTES TO FORMER PRIME MINISTER DUDLEY SENANAYAKA.
  • Date: 24th April 1973
  • Summary: 1. GTV Funeral procession 0.03 2. SV Picture on vehicle followed by procession with drums & banner (3 shots) 0.13 3. SV Tractor pulls decorated float bearing uniformed men 0.21 4. GV & SV & CU Vehicle with glass sides bearing coffin 0.30 5. SCU Coffin carried into building (4 shots) 0.45 6. CU INT. People file past open coffins (5 shots) 0.56 7. SCU Flowered wreath being placed at foot of coffin 1.00 8. CU Mr. Senanayaka in coffin 1.02 Initials ESP/1833 ESP/1843 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 9th May 1973 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
  • Country: Sri Lanka
  • Reuters ID: LVA33R3WUEX1XTB2AGM1RPT7YMFE
  • Story Text: Thousands of Sinhalese mourners queued for up to five hours to pass the open coffin and pay their last respects to former Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) Prime Minister Dudley senanayaka who, at 61, had died following a heart attack.

    Mr. Senanayaka's body lay-in-state in the Parliament Building in Colombo, the Sri Lanka capital. Hie death on Friday (13 April) brought widespread mourning throughout the country.

    Mr. Senanayaka, President of the right-wing United National Party (UNP) and four times Prime Minister, was cremated on a funeral pyre on Saturday (21 April). The day was declared a public holiday.

    Even as the nation sorrowed at the loss of such a highly regarded man, it was expected that the death would cause of leadership crisis in the UNP, the only opposition party capable of challenging Prime Minister Mrs. Bandaranaike's rule.

    SYNOPSIS: Thousands of Sinhalese mourners lined the routs and followed the hearse bearing the body of Mr. Senanayaka through the streets of Colombo, the Sri Lanka capital last week. The former Prime Minister had died of a heart attack. Hie body was being taken to the Parliament Building where it was to lie in state.

    Mr. Senanayaka, whose sudden death at the age of 61 brought widespread mourning throughout the country, had been Prime Minister of - as it was then known, Ceylon, - four times. He had also been President of the right-wing United National Party, the only opposition party capable of challenging the rule of Prime Minister Mrs. Bandaranaike.

    Tributes from Heads of States in Asia, Europe and Africa poured into the country. But it was the man-in-the-street who was willing to line up for hours to pay respects to the former leader. Last Saturday, Mr. Senanayaka's body was cremated according to Buddhist rites.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register