Lohrasb, Iran, July 12: Thousands of Iranians turned out to pay their last respects at the funeral of Siamese twins Laleh and Ladan Bijani here today. The twins, joined at the head for the entire 29 years of their lives, died on the operating table in Singapore in a failed attempt to separate them. They were buried in the native village of Lohrasb, where the massive turnout underlined how much the couple had captured the hearts of their compatriots and millions of others worldwide who had followed their plight on television.
The funeral cortege left from the mortuary in Firuzabad, 100 kilometres south of Chiraz, and well-wishers lined the roadside all along the 10 kilometre route leading to their native village. People had come from miles around, by car, bus and motorcycle, creating a huge bottleneck at the entrance to the village.
As the procession left the mortuary, a group of young girls formed a guard of honour and placed flowers on the coffins, which were then driven by ambulance to Lohrasb. The twins' mother sobbed uncontrollably over the coffins but their father kept his distance and stood stoically as the cortege moved off.
Laleh and Ladan were born in Lohrasb, where their parents still live in poverty, but were adopted by a wealthy couple from Tehran where the twins went to live and completed their studies.


Their real parents contacted them again two years ago and the family was reunited.

Bureau Report