Jimmy Carter’s six-day state funeral begins with motorcade through Georgia

The flag-draped coffin of former president Jimmy Carter (Alex Brandon/AP)

Jimmy Carter’s long public goodbye began on Saturday in south Georgia, where the 39th US president’s life began more than 100 years ago.

A motorcade with his flag-draped coffin began at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Centre in Americus, where former Secret Service agents who protected him served as pallbearers and walked alongside the hearse as it left the campus.