Billy Graham's body makes four-hour processional from Ashville to Charlotte, pictures

Renowned Televangelist Billy Graham who died on Wednesday, 21 February aged 99. [Photo: AFP]

Thousands of admirers and spectators flocked Asheville, North Carolina in the United States to watch the funeral procession and pay tribute to the late Reverend Billy Graham on Saturday.

The four- hour procession was in honor of the late evangelist, whose body will lie under the U.S capitol, Rotunda this week. 

Spectators watch Billy Graham's  funeral procession headed to Charlotte. [Photo: Courtesy]

Admirers took photos on their phones while fire trucks parked on freeway overpasses and police officers saluted as a motorcade carrying the body of the Reverend crossed the evangelist's beloved home state of North Carolina for four hours, from his mountain chapel to the Billy Graham library in Charlotte. 

A motorcade leads the funeral procession in Asheville, North Carolina. [Photo: Courtesy]

The hearse carrying the body of evangelist Billy Graham arrived at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, where some of Graham's family members had gathered on February 22, 2018.  

The hearse carrying the body of evangelist Billy Graham arrives at the Billy Graham Training Center. [Photo: Courtesy]

A ceremonial procession for evangelist Billy Graham moved from Asheville to Charlotte, North Carolina, as spectators snapped pictures along the route.

The motorcade rolled through Black Mountain, where he shopped and caught trains, to Montreat, where he lived.

Admirers snap pictures of the motorcade. [Photo: Courtesy]

Reverend Billy Graham, the influential Southern preacher who became a spiritual advisor to several US presidents and millions of Americans via their television sets, died aged 99 on Wednesday last week.

A viewing will be held at the library in Charlotte on Monday and Tuesday, while the private funeral service is set to be held on Friday, March 2. The invitation-only service is scheduled to include at least 2,300 people.

Graham will also lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, the first time a private citizen has been accorded such recognition since civil rights hero Rosa Parks in 2005.