Thousands gather for funeral of murdered Gdansk mayor Pawel

Carrying flags and candles in cold streets, thousands of Poles walked beside the coffin of Gdansk’s former mayor Pawel Adamowicz, who was stabbed on stage at a charity event.

Large screens have been set up around St Mary's Church in the city to broadcast Saturday's funeral service.

Adamowicz, a liberal critic of Poland's ruling party, had served as the mayor of Gdansk for 20 years.

A car drove Adamowicz’s coffin, which was covered in white flowers and the city's red flag, slowly through the Baltic coast city from the museum of the Solidarity movement that helped to bring down communism in Poland 30 years ago.

From there, it passed schools, monuments and other places significant in 53-year-old Adamowicz’s life, en route to the city’s main church, St Mary’s Basilica, for burial on Saturday.

The streets, in some places covered with thin snow, were blocked, as crowds paid tribute to one of Poland’s longest-serving mayors who ran the city since 1998 and beat the candidate of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party in October.

Adamowicz was attacked on stage in front of hundreds of people while attending the Great Orchestra of Christmas charity - an annual event where volunteers raise money for medical equipment in hospitals.

Paramedics tried to resuscitate Adamowicz at the scene, before transferring him to a local hospital with stab injuries, where he underwent five hours of surgery.

His death was confirmed by Poland's health minister on Monday.

President Duda described the attack as an "evil hard to imagine".

Polish authorities have arrested a 27-year-old former convict, named only as Stefan W, over the killing. Speaking on stage, the attacker accused the mayor’s former party of putting him in prison, where he said he was tortured.

He was freed last month after serving 5–1/2 years for attempted bank robbery.

Authorities have also detained at least 10 people in recent days over calls on social media to murder and other acts of aggression in the wake of Adamowicz’s death.