President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) arrived in Vila Belmiro at 9am to pay his respects to Pelé. He arrived at Baixada Santista by helicopter, which landed in the field of Portuguesa Santista, very close to the stadium of the alvinegro team.
From the early hours of the morning, a strong security scheme was set up in front of the stadium.
The president entered the lawn at 9:12 am, hand in hand with First Lady Janja and accompanied by a delegation.
He was applauded by some of the last people passing by the tent where the coffin was. Access to the Vila was temporarily closed for farewell.
His entry even changed the space for the press. Since the start of the wake, at 10 am on Monday (2), authorities and guests have given interviews at gate 15, which gives access to the club’s memorial.
For example, the recently sworn-in governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) passed through there early in the morning of the first day of the wake.
In the case of the president, this location was isolated, and the press was moved to other entrances to the stadium, such as gate 20.
When Lula arrived, the fans who were present at the site applauded the head of state and then sang the Santos anthem.
More than 150,000 people attended Pelé’s wake, until the morning of this Tuesday (3), at the Vila Belmiro stadium, in Santos. The information is from the beach club.
The King of football died on the 29th, and the wake will end at 10 am this Tuesday. After the procession, the body will be buried in a closed ceremony at the Ecumenical Necropolis Memorial Cemetery.
Whole families took advantage of the pleasant night in Santos, with 21ºC at 23:00 this Monday to say goodbye to Pelé. At this time, the queue was 2.3 km and about 3 hours of waiting, more than twice as long as lunch time. The extension was measured by the reportage.
Fans say goodbye to Pelé in Vila
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