Thousands gathered and queued to witness the coffin of the late football legend Diego Maradona in Buenos Aires' Presidential Palace Casa Rosada on November 26.

Footage shows large queues into the plaza outside the palace as thousands of adoring fans wait their turn to pay respects to the Argentine legend.

Maradona died at aged 60 of a cardiac arrest on November 25, the event shocked the football and sporting world with tributes pouring in from across the globe.

SHOTLIST:

1. Various of people lined up to mourn Maradona from the air
2. Various of the Presidential Palace of Argentina ("Casa Rosada")

STORYLINE:


Thousands of people filed past Diego Maradona's coffin on Thursday morning, as Argentina and the wider world was plunged into mourning by the legendary late footballer's death at the age of 60.

Mourners, many in tears, and many wearing the World Cup winner's number 10 Argentina shirt, gathered at the Casa Rosada presidential palace where the national hero's coffin was draped in the sky-blue-and-white national flag.

Many more will pay homage to one of the all-time sporting greats throughout the day, with government officials initially estimating as many as one million people may wish to say a final farewell.

Maradona's family and closest friends came at dawn before the start of the public wake at 6am.

Tens of thousands of people spent the night in a vigil in the Plaza de Mayo, singing songs in tribute to Maradona, who led Argentina to the World Cup in 1986.

The late footballer's burial will take place on the outskirts of Buenos Aires later on Thursday, it was confirmed, after the family asked to shorten the extended wake to a single day.

Maradona will be laid to rest in the Jardín de Paz cemetery in Bellavista, where his parents were also buried.

According to initial autopsy results, the late footballer suffered "acute heart failure." He was described as a patient with "dilated cardiomyopathy, and chronic congestive heart failure that generated acute lung edema."

In a statement released Thursday, Maradona's lawyer, Matías Morla lashed out at "criminal idiocy," saying that the emergency services had taken too long to took too long to arrive.