Today: Friday, 19 April 2024 year

Emmanuel Macron, François Hollande attend low-key memorials two years after Paris attacks

Emmanuel Macron, François Hollande attend low-key memorials two years after Paris attacks

Emmanuel Macron and his predecessor François Hollande attended the solemn and emotional commemorations to mark two years since Parisien Bataclan was hit by the terrorist attack. The event took place at the Stade de France, AFP reported.

The sad event happened in Paris in 2015, left 130 people dead and hundreds injured. The Bataclan victims were honoured during the solemn ceremony where two French presidents attended. Both Emmanuel Macron and Francois Holland stood grim-faced as the names of those killed in the bombings and shootings were read out and a minute’s silence was held at each of the places the terrorists struck. The Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo also joined the country leaders during the low-key ceremony.

The French president laid a wreath and met relatives of some of those who died. One grief-stricken woman, who had lost her son, told him: “I cry every day, I have no life anymore. My life is finished. He was my only child.”

Brigitte Trougneux was accompanied her husband during that sad ceremony, President Macron appeared close to tears as he spoke to families and survivors. The event was deliberately simple and low-key at the request of the victim’s families. On Monday, the president made no public speech but he looked very sad and depressed.

A date the 13th of November became the black day of the French history, said the survivor Diana.

France remembers the anniversary of Bataclan attack

The homage began at the Stade de France where the first attack happened and was repeated at four other sites including the Bataclan concert venue where 90 people died on the night of 13 November 2015. It ended in front of the town hall of the 11th arrondissement, where balloons were released.

Two members of Eagles of Death Metal, the US rock band who were on stage at the Bataclan during the attacks, played a brief concert nearby to mark the anniversary.

On the evening of Friday 13 November 2015, three terrorists blew themselves up outside the Stade de France; another group of three drove around the 10th and 11th arrondissements attacking cafes and restaurants; two suicide bombers detonated explosive belts after attacking concertgoers at the Bataclan and a third was shot dead by security forces who stormed the music venue.