Slain Polish mayor laid to rest

Hundreds of people bid an emotional farewell to slain Gdansk mayor Pawel Adamowicz, who was laid to rest, nearly a week after he was fatally stabbed during a charity event in the city.

Amid the chilly weather, the funeral procession commenced from the European Solidarity Center, a museum dedicated to Poland's pro-democracy Solidarity movement.

Citizens stood in long lines outside the museum to pay their last respects to Adamowicz, whose mortal remains were kept in a flower-banked coffin, CNN reported.

A huge crowd gathered in the street outside St. Mary's Basilica to watch the funeral service being conducted inside the church.

European Council President Donald Tusk, who is also a Polish national and hails from Gdansk, attended the funeral service, as well as Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa and Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Days before his funeral service, hundreds of people in Gdansk marched in solidarity of Adamowicz and also protested against the brazen attack on the Polish mayor, who was a well-known critic of Poland's right-wing government.

On Sunday, the 53-year-old mayor was stabbed in the heart and stomach at the stage of a children's hospital charity event when he was thanking everyone who had helped to raise funds for medical equipment.

Subsequently, he was rushed to a hospital, and a five-hour-long emergency surgery took place. Despite being in a critical condition, doctors tried their best to recuperate him, but the leader succumbed to his injuries on Monday.

Police arrested a 27-year-old suspect, who had convictions for bank robbery and had served jail sentences earlier.

A three-day national mourning was declared in the country in the wake of the incident.

Adamowicz entered local politics in 1990 as a local councillor, before serving the current post for over 20 years.

The Polish mayor was a staunch supporter of LGBT rights, immigrants and minority groups.