Thousands of Burundians on Friday lined the road to the capital Gitega as the body of former president Pierre Nkurunziza was escorted under heavy security for a state funeral after his sudden death earlier this month.
Nkurunziza, who ruled the country for 15 years, died at the aged 55 of what the government said was "heart failure".
The funeral ceremonies began with an "homage by his wife, Denise Bucumi Nkurunziza, his children and those close to him" in an intimate gathering at the hospital in the central city of Karuzi where he died on June 8, a governmental source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The stadium in Gitega where the funeral ceremony is to be held was packed with citizens from across the country, all dressed in white at the request of authorities.
Nkurunziza will be buried at a monument recently built in Gitega at the site of another structure which was to be dedicated to victims of the country's various crises over the years, but was never inaugurated.
