RELIGION

Fidel Castro's ashes arrive in eastern city of Santiago

Associated Press
Published | Updated

People chant "I am Fidel!" as the motorcade carrying the ashes of the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro leaves the Cespedes park during a tour in Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. After a four-day journey across the country through small towns and cities where his rebel army fought its way to power nearly 60 years ago, his remains will be interred in Santiago on Sunday.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) (The Associated Press)

Soldiers push the jeep and trailer carrying the ashes of the late Fidel Castro after the jeep briefly stopped working during Castro's funeral procession near Moncada Fort in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Castro's ashes will be interred Sunday in Santiago, ending a nine-day period of mourning that saw Cuba fall silent as thousands paid tribute to photographs of Castro and sign oaths of loyalty to his socialist, single-party system. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) (The Associated Press)

A child stands next to a portrait of the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro as she waits for the arrival of the motorcade carrying the ashes of Castro at the Cespedes park in Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. After days of national mourning in Cuba and a tour of his ashes through the countryside, his remains have arrived to the city where they will be laid to rest.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) (The Associated Press)

Fidel Castro's ashes have arrived in the eastern city of Santiago, ending a four-day journey across Cuba.

Thousands of people welcomed the leader's remains to shouts of "Fidel! I am Fidel!" The 90-year-old former president died Nov. 25. He will be remembered in a nationally televised service led by his brother, President Raul Castro, Saturday evening. His ashes will be interred Sunday morning, ending a nine-day mourning period.

Mourning for Castro has reached near-religious peaks of public adulation across Cuba since his death, particularly in rural eastern Cuba. Huge crowds have been shouting his name and lining the roads to salute the funeral procession carrying his ashes from Havana to Santiago.