Tens of thousands of mourners, some breaking through police barriers, made their way to South Africa's central government buildings on Friday to say a personal goodbye to anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela on the final day of his lying in state, Reuters reported.
Such was the desperation of people wanting to see Mandela's body in the Union Buildings in the capital Pretoria, that the government had asked others to stay away from the park-and-ride facilities set up to take mourners to the area.
According to Reuters, at least 50,000 people were waiting at park-and-ride points.
"We cannot guarantee that every person who is presently in the queues at the various centers will be given access to the Union Buildings," the government said in a statement.
The crowd broke through the metal entrance gate at the Pretoria Showgrounds, one of the park-and-ride gathering points, when officers tried to stop people coming through. Some fell to the ground and hundreds streamed past before order was restored, Reuters reported.
Police had to force back people trying to break through crowd barriers on another access road.
"I am really angry, we tried for two days now to see Mr. Mandela and thank him for changing this country and bringing us together," Ilse Steyn of Pretoria told Reuters. "Now we have to go home with heavy hearts."
Long lines ran for miles from the government site perched on a hill overlooking the city, well into the heart of the capital.
According to Reuters, the body of South Africa's first black president was lying in state for a third and final day before being flown on Saturday to the Eastern Cape for a funeral on Sunday at his ancestral home in Qunu, 450 miles south of Johannesburg. Mandela died last week aged 95.
"I don't mind waiting, today is the last day and I must say thank you. I am who I am and where I am because of this man," said Johannesburg resident Elsie Nkuna, who said she had taken two days off work to see Mandela.
The huge turnout surpassed the two previous days by far. About 21,000 people paid their last respects on Wednesday and 39,000 on Thursday, Presidency Minister Collins Chabane told broadcaster SAfm.
"It is clear to us that we are likely to get more and more people who would like to get the opportunity to see the (former) President before he is transferred to the Eastern Cape," Chabane said.
Some people had been queuing since Thursday.
"We were hungry and thirsty and did not have money for food," said Leena Mazubiko, who had travelled from eastern Mpumalanga province. "The thought that I must be here to pay respect kept me going."
The week of mourning since Mandela's death on Dec. 5 has seen an unrivalled outpouring of emotion for the statesman and Nobel peace laureate, who was honored by a host of world leaders at a memorial service in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
