Thousands of tearful mourners bid adieu to YSR

Hyderabad, Sept.4 (PTI) Thousands of mourners Friday
swarmed the city to bid a tearful adieu to Y S Rajasekhara
Reddy, who was killed in a helicopter crash on Wednesday, on
his final journey to his native Kadapa district.

The body of 60-year-old YSR, the man who revived the
Congress party's fortunes in Andhra Pradesh in 2004 after a
10-year hiatus, will be laid to rest in his hometown of
Pulivendula in Kadapa at 5 pm Friday.

The last journey began from his house in Begumpet here
after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia
Gandhi and top Congress leaders paid homage and placed wreaths
on his body.

Union ministers P Chidambaram, A K Antony, V Veerappa
Moily, Prithviraj Chavan, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi
besides Chief Ministers Sheila Dixit, Ashok K Gehlot and
several senior politicisns of different parties consoled the
family members of the late chief minister including his son
Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Wrapped in tri-colour and kept in a bedecked open army
truck, the body was taken first to Gandhi Bhavan-the state
headquarters of Congress-in Nampally here to chants of 'YSR
amar rahe'.

YSR and four others-the Principal Secretary, the Chief
Security Officer and two pilots, died when the chopper they
were travelling in crashed on a hill in Nallamala forest
ranges in Kurnool district on Wednesday and exploded a few
hours after take off from here.(MORE) PTI RAO
The vehicle moved at a snail's pace with the surging
crowds, many among them sobbing uncontrollably, trying to get
near it.

Jagan Mohan, Rajya Sabha MP K V P Ramchandra Rao, a
close aide of YSR, Congress MP and former cricketer Mohammad
Azharuddin were among those who stood near the casket carrying
Reddy's mortal remains.

All state and central government offices, schools, shops
and commercial establishments in Andhra Pradesh remained
closed in view of the state mourning.

YSR's body will be kept for public homage at the Lal
Bahadur Shastri stadium. It will be taken to Pulivendula in
the afternoon.

The national flag is being flown at half mast during the
seven-day state mourning.

The charred remains of YSR and four others on board the
twin-engine Bell 430 helicopter was spooted on the Rudrakonda
Hill, about 70 kms east of Kurnool by IAF helicopters at
around 8.30 am Thursday, nearly 24 hours after it lost contact
with the Air Traffic Controller at Bengumpet Airport here.

The helicopter had deviated 18 kms from its path, hit a
cliff of a hillock, crashed and exploded. PTI RAO
JVN