US:Thousands of Elvis Presley fans, many carrying pictures of the late singer, braved a sweltering heat wave to stream through Presley's Memphis home yesterday to mark the 30th anniversary of his death.
Fans began lining up on Wednesday evening - many waiting hours - to file up the driveway of Presley's Graceland estate and past his grave in a candlelight vigil that continued into yesterday.
The annual tribute came amid an intense heat wave, with temperatures in Memphis rising past 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius).
Eight deaths in the area were blamed on the extreme heat, including a New Jersey woman who was found dead in a tent after camping near the Heartbreak Hotel off Elvis Presley Boulevard.
Memphis officials estimated that the vigil and related concerts and seminars organised by Elvis Presley Enterprises, the firm that controls his estate, had brought some 75,000 visitors to the area for "Elvis Week."
The event has grown bigger in the years since Presley's ex-wife Priscilla took control of his estate and opened Graceland as a tourist destination in 1982. Thousands of fans paid up to $68 each to tour Graceland.