Nelson Mandela was today buried in the remote village where
the anti-apartheid icon grew up after his four-hour state funeral this morning.
South Africa's first black President died in his Johannesburg home on December 5,
at the age of 95 after a long battle with illness and he was laid to rest in
his grave in Qunu in Eastern Cape province. Military lined the route up to the
hillside as Mandela's flag-draped coffin was carried on a gun carriage to the
private burial on his family's estate. As his body was placed on the grave the
South African flag on the coffin was removed and handed to Mandela's widow
Graca Machel, who was comforted by his ex-wife Winnie Mandela. A fly-past then
followed accompanied by a 21-gun salute and a solitary trumpeter played the
Last Post as his body was lowered into the ground. Earlier his funeral was held
where around 5,000 guests including the Prince of Wales, Oprah Winfrey, Richard
Branson and the American civil rights activist Jesse Jackson paid their
respects.
