The presidential plane with the body of the former Malian head of state, Amadou Toumani Touré, arrived this Saturday, November 14, around 04:00 in Bamako, from Turkey, where he died. The plane was parked near the presidential pavilion at Bamako airport, where several hundred people were waiting, including the Malian authorities. A sober meditation ceremony took place.
as reported from Bamako,Serge Daniel
When the special flight lands, the Malian government is already there. In the absence of the President for the transition, it is the Vice President and the Prime Minister who go first to the apparatus. Six soldiers carry the coffin. First moment of meditation.
The wife of the late General Amadou Toumani Touré gets off the plane, collapsed. The coffin is then installed in a vehicle on its way to the entrance to the honor lounge.
Another moment of meditation, it in front of several hundred people. Women are crying. Next to them two men testify: “We have lost a great man”; “You know, it’s a big loss for the country. He built this country and it will surprise me that another head of state can do the same.”
“Collaborator, big brother, master … He taught me everything in life,” says a former employee, also on site.
“The last time we saw each other, he still reminded us of some major projects we had opened together and he said, ‘Adama, we will continue,'” Bamako District Mayor Adama Sangaré confided.
Read also: Mali: former president Amadou Toumani Touré died in Turkey
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