Stunned Argentines were plunged into grief on Wednesday by the death of the country's favourite son Diego Maradona, a sublimely gifted sporting hero they saw as "the most human of Gods."

Maradona, 60, passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home here on Wednesday. The news fell like a hammer blow to a nation beaten down by months of economic crisis and the Coronavirus pandemic, but one where football is a panacea for all ills. At 10pm the city exploded in cheers, horns, sirens and lights for the man, who famously wore No. 10, after a viral social media message called for "one last applause."