Paralympic Games: Crowds line torch relay route
Baku, August 29 (AZERTAC). Thousands of people have turned out to welcome the Paralympic flame which is en route to the Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony of the Games.
Crowds have lined the route of the 24-hour torch relay which began in Stoke Mandeville on Tuesday night.
The flame arrived in north London almost two hours late and organisers said breaks would be cut to save time.
Crowds gathered in the market square in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, to watch the start of the relay and thousands more turned out overnight along the route to cheer on the torchbearers.
After arriving in London, the flame, which is being carried by 580 torchbearers, was taken up the steps to Britain`s first traditional Hindu temple, the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir temple in Brent.
Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent, took part in a ceremony which involved pulling apart string made up of different threads and colours to "allow" the Paralympic torch through.
He said: "It was a very special moment. We have been waiting since 6.30am and the thrill and excitement is just fantastic. I don`t think there has ever been a setting like this, for an Olympic or Paralympic flame."
London 2012 organizers Locog said of the delay: `We are running approximately 1hr 30 mins late due to the late finish of the Stoke Mandeville event and the time required for multiple exchanges of the flame between team members.
"Overnight we have refined the exchange process and are making up time."
In Maida Vale a team of torchbearers was cheered by crowds as the flame was carried over the Abbey Road crossing, made famous by The Beatles album cover.
At London Zoo in Regents Park the flame was held aloft in the penguin enclosure by torchbearers Adam Hollick, John Craig, Fiona Forsyth, Charlie Humphrys and Aruna Mahtani.
All members of the team, who were previously unemployed and have disabilities including spinal cord injury, blindness and impaired mental health, have trained and qualified as gym fitness instructors.
In Trafalgar Square former boxer Michael Watson, wheelchair racer Dame Tanni Grey Thompson and Paralympic swimmer Chris Holmes were due to carry the flame.
About 3,000 invited guests, including Paralympians, representatives from disability groups and local residents, attended Tuesday evening`s ceremony at Stoke Mandeville Stadium - the spiritual home of the Paralympics.
Flames representing England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales were then used to create the Paralympic flame in a ceremonial cauldron.
Just before midnight the torch was carried through the village of Weston Turville, in Buckinghamshire, where residents lit candles to line the route.
A London 2012 spokeswoman said: "It is great. Each place has got a different way of doing things.
When it arrives at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, it will be used to light the cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Games.
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