wiresTopic:Crime Mourners carry the coffin of Tugce Albayrak during her funeral service on December 3, 2014 at a mosque in Waechtersbach, western Germany. (AFP/DPA/Boris Roessler) Link copiedShareShare articleHundreds of Germans have attended the funeral of a young woman who was beaten to death after trying to help two teenagers. Tugce Albayrak died after trying to stop two teenagers being harassed by a group of men in a fast-food restaurant in the town of Offenbach near Frankfurt. The men waited outside and when she emerged she was punched to the ground. She never regained consciousness and died several days ago on what would have been her 23rd birthday. In a surveillance video posted online by German newspaper Bild, it was unclear whether the young woman, an aspiring teacher, suffered the head injury from being struck by her attacker or in the subsequent fall. An 18-year-old man is in custody and an investigation is underway. The young woman's story has captivated Germany, and vigils for her have been held across the country. At Wednesday's funeral service, German and Turkish flags fluttered in the wind as around 1,000 mourners fell silent for prayers in a ceremony conducted according to Islamic rites and televised live. The premier of Hesse state joined mourners for the service outside a mosque in the western town of Waechtersbach. The coffin was then taken to a cemetery in nearby Bad Soden-Salmuenster, where Ms Albayrak was born. German president Joachim Gauck described Ms Albayrak in a condolence letter to her family as having shown "courage in an exemplary way" and said she would always remain "a role model". Calls have mounted in mass online campaigns and in the German media for Ms Albayrak to be posthumously awarded the Federal Order of Merit for her bravery. Chancellor Angela Merkel had "great sympathy" for the idea of presenting the award, her spokesman told reporters, but added it was up to the president to decide. Ms Albayrak is one of several million Germans of Turkish origin, and her story has brought together a country which has often struggled with issues of integration. Topic:Food and Beverage Processing Industry CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) Hundreds of mourners have paid their last respects to a young woman hailed as a hero who suffered fatal injuries after intervening to help two teenage girls being harassed by a group of men Tugce Albayrak had been in a coma since mid-November following an early-morning altercation in Offenbach after her family gave permission to switch off her life support Tugce's funeral was held outside a mosque in Waechtersbach in central Germany covered by a green cloth with Arabic script in gold Turkey's ambassador to Germany and the Hesse state governor also attended the ceremony The bravery of the Turkish-German woman triggered an outpouring of public sympathy in Germany The country's president was among many who have lauded her as a role model Hundreds of thousands have signed an online petition urging that Tugce be posthumously awarded a national medal of honour Tugce and two friends came to the help of two teenage girls who were being harassed by several young men inside a bathroom in the McDonald's at about 4am on November 15 one of the men allegedly hit Tugce in the head Preliminary autopsy results were inconclusive about whether the fatal blow was struck by the man or came from hitting the ground a student at Justus-Liebig University in Giessen hoped to become a high school German and ethics teacher I believe she would have been a perfect teacher." Tugce is to be buried in the cemetery of her hometown in Bad Soden-Salmuenster please register for free or log in to your account.