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Before he was laid to rest Sunday, the Angolan man known as Pai Grande, or Big Dad, drew a crowd of at least 1,000 people – including most, if not all, of his 156 surviving children and 250 grandchildren – to  pay their respects. 

Mourners for Francisco Tchikuteny Sabalo embraced, wept, sang and stood shoulder to shoulder, despite calls for social distancing and a presidential ban on gatherings of 50 people or more during the COVID-19 pandemic.