Mourners faint while waiting to pay homage to Castro

Record ID: 77049

  • Title: Mourners faint while waiting to pay homage to Castro
  • Date: 28th November 2016
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (NOVEMBER 28, 2016) (REUTERS) MEDICAL PERSONNEL CARRYING PEOPLE AWAY ON STRETCHERS AFTER FAINTING GENERAL VIEW OF PEOPLE FILLING BOTTLES OF WATER FAINTING VICTIM BEING LOADED ONTO STRETCHER FAINTING VICTIM CARRIED AWAY ON STRETCHER WOMAN OVERWHELMED BY HEAT BEING HELPED AWAY BY MEDICAL PERSONNEL PEOPLE RINSING FACES WITH WATER WATER BOTTLE BEING FILLED VARIOUS OF MEDICAL PERSONNEL ATTENDING TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE FAINTED FAINTING VICTIM BEING CARRIED AWAY ON STRETCHER VARIOUS OF MOURNERS IN LINE VARIOUS GENERAL VIEWS OF MOURNERS IN LINE
  • Embargoed: 13th December 2016 18:39
  • Keywords: Fidel Castro homage tribute heat
  • Location: NOVEMBER 28, 2016
  • City: NOVEMBER 28, 2016
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015AD1G07
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Mourners found themselves overwhelmed by heat on Monday (November 28) as they waited in long lines to pay homage to Fidel Castro.
    Medical personnel stayed busy as they attended to people who had fainted or were on the verge of fainting.
    Many attempted to keep themselves cool by filling water bottles and dousing their heads with water.
    Galvanized by a 21-gun salute that thundered across Havana, tens of thousands of Cubans paid final respects to Castro, who led a leftist revolution, ruled for half a century and resisted the United States throughout the Cold War.
    Castro died on Friday at the age of 90, a decade after stepping down due to poor health and ceding power to his brother Raul Castro. While he had been retired as an active leader, his death removed any impediment on his brother to pursue deeper relations with Washington if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump warms to the idea of improved ties.
    The government invited people to the square for a two-day commemoration that started with cannon blasts heard throughout much of the capital.
    Castro was cremated on Saturday and the government has declared a nine-day period of mourning. His ashes will be carried in a cortege to a final resting place in Santiago de Cuba, the city in eastern Cuba where he launched the revolution.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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