1970: Mourners killed as Nasser is buried

Scores of people have been crushed or battered to death in Cairo as millions of people crowded onto the streets for President Abdel Nasser's funeral.

The funeral cortege should have been a sombre state ceremony conducted by 40 major-generals and 5000 troops.

But as the president's bier passed through the capital towards its final resting place, the sheer weight of numbers of grief-stricken Egyptians threatened to disrupt the procession.

Communal sorrow

As the coffin crossed Qasr El-Nil bridge soldiers were simply overwhelmed by a mass of communal sorrow as men and women, wailing their loss, swarmed around the entourage.

In a surge of spontaneity hysterical mourners attempted to bear their beloved leader's coffin themselves.

Soldiers used rifle butts and batons to repel the crowd in the ensuing pandemonium. The march was abandoned and the coffin transferred to a military vehicle.

Authorities drove the coffin in haste to its final resting place at Manshiet-el-Bakry mosque, now to be known as Gamal Abdel Nasser mosque, and completed the burial ceremony three hours ahead of schedule.

Estimates put the number of mourners lining the funeral route at five million. Many more congregated in major cities across Egypt and the Arab world.

While the majority of casualties in Cairo were caused by over-crowding, other cities in the Middle East witnessed more unusual fatalities.

Stray small arms fire is reported to have killed and wounded a number of people in Beirut.

The discharging of weapons into the air is a common mark of respect in the region for dead heroes and leaders.

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