ZENICA, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Thousands of people have attended a funeral held for five miners killed in an accident last week at the Raspotocje coal mine in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Relatives of the deceased and residents of Zenica watched as coffins containing the bodies of Fahir Halači, Mehemed Dizdarevic, Hayruddin Bradarac, Fejzo Isakovic and Mehmedalija Halilovic were carried by their colleagues dressed in mining suits in the town 53 km northwest of the capital, Sarajevo.
The Reis-ul-Ulema of the Islamic Community in Bosnia, Hussein Kavazovic, said: "We are here today to bid farewell to them as martyrs.
"Being a miner is not just a job - mining means to be in the service of good for your family, for your friends, for your country."
"Today we say goodbye to them in sorrow and pain and with the hope that, what is to come will be better than it is today and what happened yesterday," he added.
The President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bakir Izetbegovic, was among a large number of government officials who attended the service.
The coffins were taken by family members for burial at local cemeteries.
A service of commemoration was also held at the National Theatre in Zenica.
The group died last Thursday after they were among 34 miners who became trapped at about 800 meters after the mine they were working in in central Bosnia collapsed.
Twenty nine miners were saved by rescue workers.
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