New Delhi,
Football fans were left confused after watching Brazil hero Pele’s coffin be transported around the streets of Brazilian city Sao Paulo on top of a fire engine. A funeral procession was held for the three-time World Cup winner, who died last week, across Monday and Tuesday as the country mourned the loss of their legendary footballer.
Pele – full name Edson Arantes do Nascimento – passed away at the age of 82 after a battle with cancer of the colon. The footballer won the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups with the South American nation and claimed to have scored over 1,000 thousand in his illustrious career.
Thousands of fans took to the streets to pay their respects to the Santos icon, who had been lying in state at the Urbano Caldeira Stadium since Monday. During the procession, his coffin was carried throughout the city, including in and out the stadium, before he was taken to a private ceremony for his family and close friends where he would be laid to rest at the cemetery.
Streets were closed along the route, which took Pele from the Urbano Caldeira stadium to the Santos’ Memorial Cemetery in Santos, Sao Paulo state. There was a sizeable police presence for the procession, with police motorbikes and trucks riding at the front to clear a path. Pele’s coffin, draped in a Brazil flag, was placed on the top of a firetruck in the middle of the convoy.
But fans were left confused after watching his coffin switch from being carried by Brazil servicemen to a fire engine waiting outside, which then drove him slowly through the streets past thousands of emotional fans. However, it is tradition for famous sportspeople in the nation to be honoured in such a public manner, which includes the fire engine vehicle.
