After calm confusion on Friday night, queue resumed Saturday morning
It was announced just after 11pm on Friday that the queue for the public to pay their last respects to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew in Parliament House was suspended temporarily.
The State Funeral Organising Committee said this was done for safety reasons because of the large crowd and to minimise physical discomfort from the long wait, especially for the elderly and young children. It added that the public will be informed when the queue is open again.
It was estimated that as of 11pm, the waiting time to enter Parliament House was more than 10 hours.
Announcements were made at City Hall MRT station that the Padang queue was closed and those intending to go there should go home.
When TNP arrived at the station at about 11.30pm, there were about 100 people in the station.
They started to move out of the station and gathered around Raffles City Shopping Centre.
Ms Faith Teo who was leaving Raffles City when the closure was announced, said that she saw the doors of the station being closed and barricades being set up near the entrance of Fairmont Singapore hotel.
"There was some confusion but that was because people could not hear what the police officers were saying. They were confused but calm."
Ms Teo added that there was no audible complaining and many just "shrugged off" the situation.
UPDATE:
The queue reopened at 6.15am and a steady stream of people were able to make their way through the Padang to pay their last respects.
The clear skies and sunrise gave those in the queue some picturesque views of the city.
Ushers and marshals help keep the queue cool with free 'aircon'
And umbrellas and water were handed out when the sun became stronger
The queueing time for Saturday as of 4pm was four hours.
TNP PHOTOS: CHAI HUNG YIN
Other photos courtesy of Faith Teo
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