The Angolan police use tear gas to disperse a riot near the Santa Ana cemetery, where the Kudurist musician ‘Nagrelha’ will be buried this Tuesday.
Funeral ceremonies for the musician, who died on Friday, drew a crowd of thousands of Angolans in what will be the largest funeral ever held in Luanda.
Image reporter for the Portuguese agency Marcos Focosso tells TSF that he saw “people passed out” and “blood all over the floor.” “The population decided to break the cordon that the police had put up and the confusion began.”
Marcos Focosso adds that the injured are being assisted by firefighters.
“There was little police reinforcement and the crowd closed the road. As the body started passing by, that’s where the confusion really happened, so much so that the hearse had to speed up to get the crowd out, because they wanted to hug the box. . that the police started shooting to disperse, ”he explains.
“Something like this had never happened, there are a lot of people, we had never seen anything like this,” he says, equating the funeral of the Kudurista musician ‘Nagrelha’ with that of Agostinho Neto.
This morning there were still hundreds of people at the Estádio da Cidadela, where the tributes were held, and from where a procession on foot, in candongueiros and with thousands of motorcyclists left for the Santa Ana cemetery.
The large concentration of people caused the police to intervene, and shots were heard, since despite having mobilized 800 agents, the police had difficulties in controlling the large crowd.
The firing of tear gas caused a stampede and blackouts, with several people falling to the ground.
Throughout the procession, young people could be heard crying and shouting “son of Zedu”, in reference to former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos. Many held various signs and there were those who shouted “‘Nagrelha’ president, João Lourenço head of state.”
The Angolan police announced that they had mobilized 800 agents to ensure the wake, procession and funeral of the Kudurist.
Gelson Caio Manuel Mendes, better known as ‘Nagrelha’, the most famous singer of the Kuduro musical style, died at the age of 36 in Luanda due to lung cancer, reported the D. Alexandre do Nascimento Hospital Complex for Cardiovascular Diseases, where he was staying, he admitted.
The provincial vice-governor of the Political and Social Sector, Manuel Gonçalves, called this Sunday to all citizens and to the Kudurists, in particular, to maintain serenity, in order to maintain public order and avoid disturbances.
For security reasons, the cemetery is closed and reserved exclusively for the funeral of ‘Nagrelha’.
The Secretariat of the Political Bureau of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the party in whose rallies the artist regularly participated, left a message of condolences, extolling the unique and incomparable way of being of “Nagrelha”, which inspired and mobilized many artists to adhere to the kuduro style.
For the MPLA, the musician stood out as one of the most charismatic members of the musical group Os Lambas, responsible for introducing a new paradigm in the musical style of kuduro, marked by compositions with appreciable rhyme and high creative capacity, which catapulted the group to the next level of the best in reference style.
The parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the main Angolan opposition party, also sent condolences to family, friends, fans and the Ministry of Culture, considering “Nagrelha” as an icon of popular music, especially the Angolan youth.
“Talking about the death of ‘Nagrelha’ is talking about a pain that goes through the hearts of thousands of Angolan youth and adults who love kuduro,” he said in a statement.
“Charismatic, creative and eccentric, son of the people and one of the symbols of youth that does not resign itself to social and economic difficulties, ‘Nagrelha’ leaves behind a great musical repertoire that immortalizes it and keeps it present in Angola’s cultural memory. “, stressed UNITA.
* News updated at 11:20 am
Source: TSF
