New Zealand pays tribute to Sir Edmund Hillary
{image-edmund
hilarry_21012008.jpg
news.oneindia.in}
Auckland
(New
Zealand),
Jan
21:
Hundreds
of
New
Zealanders
paid
their
last
respects
to
Sir
Edmund
Hillary,
the
first
climber
to
scale
Mount
Everest,
ahead
of
his
state
funeral
on
Tuesday.
The
mourners
gathered
at
Auckland's
Holy
Trinity
Cathedral
to
file
past
his
body
as
it
lay
in
state.
Prime
Minister
Helen
Clark,
who
attended
a
short
ceremony
at
the
cathedral,
described
Sir
Edmund
as
"New
Zealand's
greatest
hero".
The renowned climber died of a heart attack on January 11 at the age of 88. According to the BBC, Tuesday's state funeral will be broadcast across New Zealand and shown on a giant screen in an Auckland park. Early on Monday, Sir Edmund's flag-draped coffin was brought into the cathedral, where he will lie in state for 24 hours. Local Maori offered a traditional welcome as military personnel carried the casket inside. The mountaineer's wife, June, and son, Peter, attended the ceremony, as did Ms Clark.
"People
have
been
stopped
in
their
tracks
since
they
learned
of
Sir
Ed's
passing.
New
Zealand
has
lost
its
greatest
hero," Prime
Minister
Clark
said.
About
100
members
of
the
Nepalese
community
were
among
the
first
to
pay
their
respects,
as
hundreds
more
people
lined
up
outside
the
cathedral.
Tributes
have
flooded
in
from
around
the
world
since
the
death
of
the
climber.
Sir
Edmund
became
known
all
around
the
world
after
he
and
Tenzing
Norgay
became
the
first
to
scale
the
world's
highest
peak
on
May
29,
1953.
After
the
ascent,
the
New
Zealander
led
several
expeditions
to
the
South
Pole
and
devoted
time
to
helping
ethnic
Sherpas
of
Nepal's
Khumbu
region
through
his
Himalayan
Trust.
ANI