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Longtime Cuban dictator Fidel Castro laid to rest in Santiago, Cuba

A vehicle carrying longtime Cuban dictator Fidel Castro broke down during the funeral procession on Saturday. It had to be pushed by soldiers for a part of the cavalcade. The vehicle that was carrying the remains of Castro broke down near the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Santiago was the cradle of the Cuban revolution.

Castro had led the Cuban revolution in the 1950s and had a strong hold over the country for nearly half a century until his resignation in 2008. He passed away on 25 November at the age of 90.

The military fired a 21-gun salute for the fallen leader. The act, supposed to be carried live on television throughout the world was changed to a "solemn and private" affair just hours before. Thousands of people lined the roads. Cuban flags were waved and shouted "Long live Fidel!"

"The strongman now rests in a crypt in the same cemetery that holds the remains of comrades killed in his 1950s-era guerrilla war against the dictator Fulgencio Batista, which began in the 1953 assault on the Moncada barracks in Santiago," writes Juan Forero in the Wall Street Journal.

Here are some pictures as many came out to pay tribute.

(Text by Sahil Bhalla, Photo curation by Vikas Kumar)