him. As Ali walked away, he was shot in the back by one of the officers. Later, several hundred demonstrators congregated in the car park of the hospital where Ali was taken. The Ministry of Interior expressed its regret at the incident and announced that his death would be investigated. 15–16 February Thousands of mourners participated in Ali Mushaima's funeral. During the funeral, Fadhel Al-Matrook was shot by police in the back at close range, and he died within the hour from his shotgun wounds. The government says that Fadhel was part of a group of 400 mourners that attacked 7 policemen with rocks and metal rods. The government claims that the police exhausted their supply of tear gas and rubber bullets in a failed attempt to disperse the crowd, and resorted to the use of shotguns. Witnesses say that police shot Fadhel in the back as he bent over to help a mourner who collapsed when police fired tear gas at Ali's funeral. Protesters, angered by this second death, marched to Pearl Roundabout around 15:00, and began to set up tents. The number of demonstrators swelled to up to ten thousand by nightfall. Police did not attempt to disperse demonstrators at the roundabout, as Bahrain's King, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, had ordered that people be permitted to occupy the Pearl Roundabout to express their sadness. Mohammed Albuflasa, a former officer in the Bahrain Defence Force, disappeared after he gave an evening speech at the roundabout calling for national unity between Sunnis and Shia, and expressing support of the protests. The speech was noteworthy because Mohammed is a religiously conservative Sunni Muslim, whereas most of the protesters were Shia or secular Sunnis. The government first acknowledged on 4 March that he was in their custody. In reaction to the two deaths, Bahrain's main trade union federation, the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions, called for a general strike beginning on 17 February, and Al Wefaq, the party with the largest number of seats in Bahrain's parliament, announced it would suspend its participation in Parliament. In an evening address on state television to mark the occasion of Mawlid, King Hamad offered condolences for the two deaths, and announced the establishment of a committee to investigate the events of the past two days. Throughout the day, 25 people were said to have been injured, and hospital records at Bahrain's main public