Paweł Adamowicz: thousands attend Gdańsk mayor's funeral

Poles mourn critic of ruling party’s anti-immigration policies who was stabbed at charity event

Agencies
Sat 19 Jan 2019 11.28 GMT

Polish and European officials joined thousands of people from across Poland on Saturday for the funeral of Paweł Adamowicz, the mayor of the northern city of Gdańsk, who died on Monday after being stabbed the night before at a charity event.

The European council president, Donald Tusk, a friend of Adamowicz, was among those attending the burial at the vast Gothic St Mary’s Basilica. Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, and the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, also attended along with former leaders including Lech Wałęsa.

Other dignitaries included the former German president Joachim Gauck and city mayors from other countries. The black urn with the mayor’s ashes will be laid to rest at one of the basilica’s chapels.

Crowds in the streets watched the ceremony on giant screens. A solemn procession brought Adamowicz’s casket to the basilica for a mass on Friday night. The body was then cremated.

Earlier, thousands of Poles, carrying flags and candles in cold streets, walked beside the coffin.

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