Ethiopia funeral 'fit for hero' on Sunday

The funeral of Ethiopian engineer Simegnew Bekele, who died from a gunshot wound on Thursday, will take place on Sunday, the organising committee said.

Initially it had been thought that he would be buried on Friday, but in a statement the committee, mainly made up of government officials, said it wanted to postpone the burial to make arrangements for a bigger funeral “that a national hero like him deserves”.

The death of Mr Simegnew, who was in charge of Ethiopia's most high profile infrastructure project, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, has been met with shock and an outpouring of grief.

He was found in a car in the main square of Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, on Thursday morning.

There were demonstrations in Addis Ababa and in Mr Simegnew's home city of Gondar, calling for justice.

Police are investigating the circumstances of his death.