ADDIS ABABA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Ethiopians came out to the streets on Sunday in the capital to bid farewell to the slain chief engineer of the country's landmark mega hydro dam.
Simegnew Bekele's flag-draped casket made a journey through the streets of Addis Ababa.
The engineer, who was found dead in his car on Thursday morning in Addis Ababa with a gunshot wound to the head, was laid to rest in the Ethiopian Orthodox Trinity Cathedral.
Scores of mourners, including Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome, paid their last respects.
Bekele had been the chief engineer of the 6,450 MW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) since its construction was started in April 2011 on the Blue Nile River.
The project, which will be Africa's largest upon completion, is now 66 percent complete, according to the Ethiopian government.
Ethiopian police have not yet given indications on whether Bekele's death was from a self-inflicted wound or murder, but Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he believes the engineer was murdered.
One of the mourners, Fanta Messele, a niece of Bekele's, said she came to the funeral to pay her last respects to a visionary and hardworking Ethiopian.
"Simegnew was a kind, hardworking and popular guy, who doesn't have time for small things," she told Xinhua.
