North Korea says a fierce snowstorm paused and the sky began glowing red above sacred Mount Paektu just minutes before leader Kim Jong Il's death.

State media say the ice on volcanic Lake Chon at the mountain in the far north cracked with a load roar.

And in the city of Hamhung, a Manchurian crane circled a statue of Kim's father, late President Kim Il Sung, before alighting on a tree, its head drooping before it took off toward Pyongyang.

State media say Kim died Saturday morning at age 69. His death was announced two days later.

Similar myths and legends also surround Kim Jong Il's birth on Mount Paektu. Official biographies say he was born on Paektu and that a double rainbow filled the skies when he was born.