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SANTIAGO - Thousands of mourners filed through the military academy in Santiago yesterday to pay respects to the former dictator Augusto Pinochet, who died from heart disease.
The former Chilean leader, who seized power in a coup in 1973, was laid out in a glass-topped coffin dressed in full military uniform after his remains were moved to the academy.
A public Mass was to be held overnight before his body was to be cremated.
In the first of three religious services, 500 officials from the Government and military crowded into the hall.
Outside, thousands of Chileans wearing badges, flags and posters waited behind the gates and listened to the service over the loudspeakers.
- INDEPENDENT
