Several people were injured in a crush on Thursday as mourners queued up to see former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe as he laid in state at a stadium in Harare.
The injuries occurred as people jostled to get a glimpse of the body of the former strongman, which was flown in by helicopter.
Mugabe’s body was returned to Zimbabwe on Wednesday from Singapore, where he died at the age of 95.
He had been seeking treatment there for an undisclosed illness since April.
A government spokesman said that 10 African leaders were expected to attend Mugabe’s official funeral ceremony planned for Saturday.
Presidential spokesman George Charamba said in a statement that South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, and Mozambique’s Filipe Nyusi were among the African presidents, who have confirmed their attendance,
Seven former presidents are also expected to attend, including South Africa’s Jacob Zuma, Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda, and Namibia’s Sam Nujoma.
The Zimbabwe government had said that Mugabe would then be buried on Sunday at the National Heroes Acre, a hilltop shrine reserved for the country’s ruling elite.
But family members want to honour Mugabe’s wish of being buried next to his mother in his rural home in Kutama, about 85 kilometres from the capital, Harare.
There is also disagreement over the burial date.
A meeting between Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Mugabe’s widow has so far failed to break the impasse.
“We are in consultation with the government.
“No burial arrangements yet,” a spokesman for the Mugabe family, Leo Mugabe, told dpa.
Mugabe was deposed in a 2017 coup after nearly four decades in power.
Still revered by some for his fight against white domination as a former liberation fighter, he is widely despised by others who see him as responsible for destroying Zimbabwe’s economy and violently oppressing any opposition. (dpa/NAN)
