A DRAMATIC picture has emerged of the moment a cyclist battled to save a city worker's life after he was battered by a teenage gang.
Zdenek Makar, 31, was walking home from drinks with friends when he was beaten to death with a metal chain.
He became involved in a "trivial row" with a teen in a grey tracksuit while waiting for his meal at Perfect Fried Chicken in Poplar, East London.
As the smartly dressed worker left the shop he was chased 100 metres down the road by a gang of four youths riding BMX's.
Zdenek, who was wearing a grey suit and worked for an events and catering company, was found lying in a pool of blood on a footpath next to a railway line opposite All Saints DLR station.
A cyclist gave CPR to the victim but he was pronounced dead at the scene at 12.20am on Thursday.
Another passer-by watched in horror as he realised the victim was fighting for life.
A picture taken on a mobile phone and shared on Snapchat was captioned: “Allah hes nt breathing.”
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Devastated friends have taken to Facebook to pay tribute to Zdenek, originally from the Czech Republic and worked for Harbour & Jones in central London.
A close pal wrote: "This wasn't supposed to happen. I still can't believe it.
"A man with a huge heart, a whole life ahead of him.
"I will never forget you, you will stay forever in our hearts forever."
Another friend wrote online: "Losing a friend is always hard but like that is harder than ever.
"Never forgotten. You'll be truly missed."
Murder cops have launched a probe into the senseless attack and are appealing for witnesses to come forward.
A worker at Perfect Fried Chicken said: “I don’t know what the argument was about but there was no pushing or shoving, no one threw a punch.
"They were swearing at each other but it was all over in about ten seconds.
“The boy, he was 16 or 17, went and told his friends outside who were on BMX bikes.
“One of them who was older came in and put his arm around the man in the suit and said ‘you shouldn’t have spoken to him like that'.
“The guy held up his arms as if to say I’m sorry and that was that.
"There didn’t seem to be any animosity.
“They both took their food outside and that was it.
"Ten minutes later we saw all the police and ambulance turn up.
“The police came in later and asked to see the CCTV and they said they think he was killed over what happened in the shop.
“I can’t believe it. It’s shocking. It was just a silly exchange of words. You get it sometimes but it’s unbelievable it can end like this and life can be so cheap.
“The guy was clearly a businessman as he was wearing a very sharp grey suit. He was in a good mood. He said he’d been at a drinks party after work and was going home."
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Another shopkeeper saw the victim lying on the pavement.
He said: “There was cyclist with a beard who had blood over his face from him trying to resuscitate the man by giving him mouth to mouth.
“I was told he had been badly beaten and there was huge wound to the back of his head.”
A post mortem examination is expected to take place today.
No arrests have been made.
The A13 East India Dock Road was shut down between Cotton Street and Chrisp Street while police investigated.
A resident of a nearby flat told the Evening Standard: "I heard noises at about 11pm, it was men shouting.
"You always hear noises at night here but this time it was serious, you knew something was going to happen.
"I didn't realise someone had actually died until the morning."
A Met police spokesman said: “At this early stage, it is believed the victim was involved in an altercation with a group of males inside Perfect Fried Chicken in East India Dock Road.
“The victim was then followed down the street and attacked. There have been no arrests and enquiries continue.”
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