Thousands have attended a farewell procession for boxing legend Muhammad Ali in his home city of Louisville, in the US state of Kentucky. Onlookers cheered his cortege as it passed by on its way to a city cemetery where he was then buried in a private service for family and friends.
The ex-heavyweight champion and rights activist died last Friday aged 74. An interfaith memorial service for the boxer is now being held at a major sports centre. Former US President Bill Clinton is to deliver one of the eulogies.
The motorcade procession began at about 10:35 local time (14:35 GMT), more than an hour behind schedule, and took the coffin past his childhood home, the Ali Center, the Center for African American Heritage and then down Muhammad Ali Boulevard.
Onlookers lining the roadside waved, took photos and chanted “Ali, Ali” as a cortege led by the hearse carrying his coffin drove through the downtown area.
Fans threw flowers at the hearse and rose petals were scattered along the route. In one neighbourhood, several young men ran alongside the vehicle carrying a placard which read: “Ali is the greatest, thanks 4 all the memories.”
The cortege then brought the coffin to the Cave Hill cemetery, where Muhammad Ali was buried in a private ceremony. Actor Will Smith and ex-boxer Lennox Lewis were among the pallbearers. A memorial service at the KFC Yum! Centre is now under way.
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