Tongan king's body brought home for funeral

The casket carrying the body of King George Tupou V is draped in the Tongan royal standard upon its arrival at Fua'amotu International Airport (AFP)

Members of the Tongan royal family in traditional dress watch as pallbearers carry the casket of King George Tupou V from an aircraft at Fua'amotu airport yesterday.

Thousands of sombre Tongans, swathed in black, lined the Pacific island nation's roads to welcome home the body of their late king – an eccentric reformer who died in Hong Kong last week.