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Papa Wemba laid to rest in Congo

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Papa Wemba breathes his last on stage

Influential Congolese musician, Papa Wemba has been laid to rest amid an army of mourners who filed past his white and gold casket in the three days before Wednesday’s burial as he lay in state at the parliament building in the capital of Kinshasa.

Scores of mourners trooped out in their numbers to pay their last respects to the legendary Congolese singer who brought his tumultuous country’s music to a world audience and became a national hero in the process.

“Papa Wemba has always been my idol. So I’ve just lost my star,” said JB Mpiana, the head of the popular Kinshasa musical group Wenge Musica.

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A crowd of tens of thousands packed the streets in front of the Notre Dame du Congo Cathedral where the city’s Catholic archbishop celebrated a funeral mass in honour of the late musician.

Papa Wemba born Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba in Lubefu in what was then the Belgian Congo collapsed and died on stage while performing at a music festival in Ivory Coast on April 24. He was 67 years old.

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