Thousands of residents of Samarkand greeted the motorcade with the body of the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov delivered at the airport of Tashkent, the correspondent of RIA Novosti.
From the airport to the centre of Samarkand stretched chain occurring. Most of the men were in black pants and white shirts. Many brought flowers. Women are mostly in traditional dresses. Many of the audience could not hold back the tears.
The cortege proceeded to the center of Samarkand, the famous Registan square with its ancient minarets. Here is the coffin for the ceremony. It will start at 12 PM local time (10.00 MSK).
From here the funeral procession will go to the historic cemetery Shakhi-Zinda, where the buried medieval figures, as well as parents of Islam Karimov. Next to them will be buried and the President himself. The last 20 years, Shahi-Zinda, nobody bury, but for the first President of Uzbekistan made an exception.
The center of Samarkand is now completely closed to cars, only foot travel. At each intersection on duty police officers.
