THOUSANDS of people gathered at the Longhua Funeral Home yesterday morning to pay their respects to the two firefighters who plunged to their deaths from a 13th story window last Thursday.

The bodies of 23-year-old Qian Lingyun and 20-year-old Liu Jie were laid out at the home to allow their families, friends, colleagues, members of the public and government officials to pay tributes and present flowers.

The parents of the two men wept openly during a special funeral service, while Qian’s mother fainted several times.