Thousands pay final respects to Everest conqueror Hillary

Thousands of New Zealanders filed solemnly past the casket of Mount Everest conqueror Edmund Hillary today as they paid final respects ahead of his state funeral tomorrow.

Hillary’s body lay in the closed coffin on a catafalque in Auckland’s Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral with four soldiers, rifles at rest, standing guard as ordinary New Zealanders bade farewell to a man many simply called “a hero”.