RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Mourners filed past Yasser Arafat's tomb in Ramallah Saturday as Palestinian soldiers kept watch over what had been a chaotic scene just hours before. A steady and quiet stream of mourners walked slowly past the memorial of the only leader the grieving Palestinians have ever known, CNN reported.
On Friday tens of thousands of frenzied Palestinians mobbed the Egyptian military helicopter that landed in Ramallah with Arafat's body. So intense was the crowd that the helicopter doors could not be opened to remove the coffin. CNN said. Eventually, soldiers got the coffin out of the aircraft and drove it on top of an SUV to its resting place. Plans for a ceremony and to have Arafat's body lie in state for several hours were cancelled due to the chaos and injuries.
More than 100 mourners were injured in the crush of people around the helicopter, as well as widespread traditional firing of automatic weapons by militias, soldiers and private citizens throughout the crowd.
