Diego Maradona funeral worker sacked for taking selfie next to Argentina legend’s body in open coffin
A FUNERAL parlour worker has been sacked after taking a selfie by the open coffin of Diego Maradona.
The sick photo showing him doing the thumbs-up by the football legend’s body started circulating on social media this afternoon.
Read our Diego Maradona death live blog for the latest news & updates
Argentina’s president Alberto Fernandez has decreed three days of mourning after the death of the legendary player of a suspected heart attack aged 60.
Maradona’s body lay in a wooden coffin with the blue and white national flag and an Argentina shirt with his famous number 10 in the Casa Rosada presidential palace in the capital Buenos Aires.
But earlier a funeral parlour employee, understood to have been one of the men tasked with preparing Maradona’s body, took a selfie of himself with open casket.
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The owner of the funeral parlour, a firm called Sepelios Pinier, confirmed to local media the worker has now been sacked.
His coffin was left open for the family wake which preceded the public send-off, which started at 6am local time today.
Maradona’s lawyer Matias Morla named the sick selfie culprit and posted a social media picture of him on his official Twitter feed as he pledged to take legal action.
“For the memory of my friend I am not going to rest until he pays for this aberration,” he said.
Maradona will be buried later Thursday at the Jardin de Paz cemetery on the outskirts of the Argentine capital, where his parents were also laid to rest, his spokesman Sebastian Sanchi said.
As his body was brought to the presidential palace, fans clashed with police as they scrambled to get a glimpse of the Argentine football legend’s casket in Buenos Aires.
Grief and passion boiled over as heartbroken supporters broke through barriers and brawled with riot police near the presidential palace.
Pictures also show hordes of tearful fans surrounding a white hearse last night as they desperately hoped for a glimpse of their hero’s final journey through the capital.
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Many of the mourners were in tears, and some wore the World Cup winner’s famous 10 Argentina jersey as they gathered at the Casa Rosada.
Dozens of other shirts of different teams tossed in by weeping visitors were scattered on and around the casket.
Fans blew kisses as they passed Maradona’s wooden casket in the main lobby of the Casa Rosada, some striking their chests with closed fists and shouting “Lets go Diego”.