Approaches to the Butel cemetery in Skopje are clogged with the many people trying to drive there to pay respects to Amdi Bajram. The Roma politician who led the SRM party died yesterday after contracting the coronavirus.

The funeral procession is moving from his near-by house to the Butel cemetery after his family and friends called on all Roma and all friends and business partners of Bajram to attend the funeral. This raised concerns of further spread of the virus, as Bajram recently staged a lavish wedding for his grand-daughter at a boat he chartered in Istanbul, after flying hundreds of guests there.

The family insists that he died of brain aneurism after suffering from diabetes and heart issues for a long time, but the post mortem showed he was positive to the virus.