Family and friends gathered in Montreal Saturday to bury a Canadian aid worker who was killed in Baghdad earlier this month.

Vatche Arslanian died April 8 when the Red Cross vehicle he was in got caught in gunfire between U.S.-led coalition forces and Saddam Hussein's fighters.

Vatche Arslanian
Vatche Arslanian

Arslanian, 48, was a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross. He was one of about a half-dozen ICRC workers who decided to stay in Iraq after the war began. His primary job was to keep track of medical supplies and blankets.

He was a Canadian citizen of Armenian descent. Born in Syria, Arslanian went to school in Montreal, and served as a city councillor and deputy mayor in a town in New Brunswick. He became a volunteer for the Red Cross in 1991.

At Saturday's funeral, six white Red Cross vans followed the hearse from the Montreal church. The organization's flag was draped over the coffin.

"He was a very nice person, a very kind person," said one colleague who came to say goodbye. A steady rain fell outside as the church filled with mourners and music.

Arslanian's two sisters remembered him as a highly protective brother who was always looking out for them. The women called him a combination of "a lamb and a lion," and said they're somewhat comforted knowing he died doing what he loved – helping others.