New | Large crowds brave heavy downpours for state funeral of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew
Crowds braved torrential rain to witness Lee's final 15-kilometre journey, from Singapore's Parliament House to the University Cultural Centre.
Tens of thousands of people today lined the streets of Singapore to pay their respects at the state funeral of the nation state's first premier, Lee Kuan Yew, who died on Monday at the age of 91.
Crowds braved torrential rain to witness Lee's final 15-kilometre journey, from Singapore's Parliament House to the University Cultural Centre at the National University of Singapore, where a state funeral took place this afternoon.
By 10.30am, under grey skies and two hours before Lee's body was scheduled to leave Parliament House, thousands of people were already lining the perimeter of Singapore's national parade ground - the Padang.
Light rain turned to a heavy downpour at around midday, prompting a sea of umbrellas to go up along the route.
Lee’s coffin, protected from the downpour by a glass case, lay atop a ceremonial gun carriage led solemnly past city landmarks. Walking slowly in the coffin’s wake as it exited parliament were Lee’s son, the current prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, other family members and government officials.
Crowds along the route chanted “Lee Kuan Yew,” snapped photos with smartphones held aloft and waved Singapore’s flag. Four howitzers fired a 21-gun salute, while air force fighter jets streaked over the island, with one peeling off in a “missing man” formation, as navy patrol ships blasted horns.