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
