Maradona funeral cortege heads to cemetery near Buenos Aires — EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Handout photo released by Argentina’s Presidency press office showing the coffin of the late Argentinian football legend Diego Armando Maradona being placed in the hearse, outside the Casa Rosada government house, in Buenos Aires, on November 26, 2020. – Diego Maradona will be buried Thursday on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, a spokesman said. Maradona, who died of a heart attack Wednesday at the age of 60, will be laid to rest in the Jardin de Paz cemetery, where his parents were also buried, Sebastian Sanchi told AFP. (Photo by ESTEBAN COLLAZO / Argentina’s Presidency Press Office / AFP)

A hearse bearing the flag-draped coffin of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona rolled through the center of Buenos Aires Thursday as thousands of fans bade him a final farewell.

Amid blaring sirens and surrounded by motorcycle police outriders, the funeral cortege swept quickly through the streets around the presidential palace, where thousands of fans had filed past Maradona’s coffin since early morning.

The lying in state, which had been extended to cope with the crowds surrounding the palace, was cut short by the family and officials after unruly fans took over an inner courtyard of the presidency.

Police then clashed with fans in the city center as the event threatened to descend into chaos.