The body of Australian cricket great Shane Warne has started its final journey home.
His casket was placed in an ambulance at the Thai Police Forensic Institute and driven to an international airport just before daybreak on Thursday, draped in an Australian flag. According to local media, Warne's body would be flown back to his homeland of Melbourne, Australia, on a private plane.
Warne, widely considered as one of the greatest bowlers of all time, died while on vacation with friends on Samui Island in Thailand's south. Warne, 52, died after a suspected heart attack, according to an autopsy report.
After the family arranges a private funeral, the Victoria state government plans to organise a state memorial service for Warne on March 30 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which has hosted many of Warne's greatest sporting moments.
Warne's spectacular Ashes hat trick in 1994 and his 700th test wicket on Boxing Day in 2006, during his final series before retiring from international cricket, both took place at the MCG. Melbourne is where he was born and raised.
Late Monday, Warne's family released a statement in which they described the night of his death on March 4 as the start of an unending nightmare.
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