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Mandela Mourners Break Barrier To View Madiba

Mandela Mourners Break Barrier To View Madiba

Angry mourners frustrated by long lines Friday tried to break through metal security gates that led to where Nelson Mandela’s body was being viewed at the Union Buildings in the South African capital of Pretoria, according to a video on IBTimesUK.

South African police struggled to control crowds as the body of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela lay in state for a final day.

An estimated 100,000 people made their way to park-and-ride locations and on to the Union Buildings to pay their respects to the anti-apartheid icon, NineMSN reports.

More than 40,000 were turned away, according to the WallStreetJournal.

After hours of waiting in line and faced with the likelihood they would not make it, some tried to take matters into their own hands.

Other mourners were left disappointed when buses that were meant to transport them to the Union Buildings stopped operating.

The government asked would-be viewers to stay away from the park-and-ride facilities set up to take mourners to the viewing because the crush of people wanting to see Mandela’s body in the Union Buildings in the capital Pretoria was so great, IBTimesUK reported.

The body of South Africa’s first black president will be flown on Saturday, Dec. 14 to the Eastern Cape for a funeral on Sunday, Dec. 15 at his ancestral home in Qunu, 450 miles south of Johannesburg.

Mandela died last week at age 95. His memorial service Tuesday in Johannesburg was considered one of the largest gatherings of world leaders, clergy and citizens in recent memory.