France paid an emotional tribute on Thursday to 130 people killed 10 years ago during a rampage by Islamic State gunmen and suicide bombers targeting cafes, restaurants and the Bataclan concert hall.
The attacks were the deadliest on French soil since World War Two, scarring the national psyche and prompting emergency security measures, many of which are now embedded in law.
The bells of Notre Dame cathedral rang at one of a series of ceremonies across the capital where survivors and families lined up with leading figures including President Emmanuel Macron to hear the names of victims read out.
‘AN EMPTINESS THAT CANNOT BE FILLED’
The assault on November 13, 2015, began with suicide bomb blasts that killed one person, bus driver Manuel Dias, outside the Stade de France sports stadium and continued with gunmen opening fire at five other locations in central Paris.
“Since that November 13, there is an emptiness that cannot be filled,” Dias’ daughter Sophie said in front of the stadium. Her voice trembled with tears as she recalled the family’s endless phone calls through the night, trying to reach her father, before they got the news.
“May we raise awareness among younger generations, pass on the values of our republic, and remind them of all those innocent lives lost, like my dad, who left far too soon, for no reason at all,” she said.
PAYING TRIBUTE
Throughout the day, survivors and relatives of victims paid tribute to those killed and wounded at each of the sites of the attacks, laying wreaths and observing a minute of silence.
At each site, the names of all those killed there were read out.
“It’s important to mention them; for me, it’s a way of bringing them back to life. They’re here among us,” said Sebastien Lascoux, a survivor of the attack on the Bataclan, who lost one friend there that night. He still suffers from post-traumatic stress.
Two survivors of the assault on the Bataclan later took their own lives, victims’ associations and relatives say. Their names were read out with the other victims on Thursday and the Bataclan ceremony paid tribute to them.
Their deaths took the official toll to 132, including 92 at the Bataclan.
Later in the day, a remembrance garden was inaugurated close to the Paris city hall.
“The anger has subsided … but the scars remain indelible,” said Philippe Duperron, whose son Thomas died in the Bataclan. Duperron leads a victims’ association.
ATTACK ON FRANCE’S CULTURE
Historian Denis Peschanski said what made the November 13 attacks – which targeted places where people were out and about having fun – unique “was that everyone was a potential victim”.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told RTL radio: “The terrorists wanted to attack this culture that is ours — this culture of joy, celebration, diversity, sharing, and music.”
A decade on, the threat of such attacks in France has mutated.
“An attack like the one we unfortunately experienced ten years ago, on November 13, is less likely. The weakening of Islamic State makes it much less probable,” Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told BFM TV.
“However, the threat remains high … with individuals present on national territory who radicalize very quickly and plot violent actions.”
(Reporting by Bertrand Boucey, Inti Landauro, Alessandro Parodi, Dominique Vidalon, Antony Paone)
