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| Memorial plaques unveiled in Paris on first anniversary of attacks | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Outside Le Carillon bar and Le Petit Cambodge restaurant, where more than a dozen people died and others were seriously injured when Islamic State gunmen opened fire during last year’s Paris attacks, François Hollande and the city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, unveiled a memorial plaque listing the victims. | Outside Le Carillon bar and Le Petit Cambodge restaurant, where more than a dozen people died and others were seriously injured when Islamic State gunmen opened fire during last year’s Paris attacks, François Hollande and the city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, unveiled a memorial plaque listing the victims. |
| They included a group of friends from architecture college, a 25-year-old who worked in a local sandwich shop, and two sets of sisters who had met up for a night out. | They included a group of friends from architecture college, a 25-year-old who worked in a local sandwich shop, and two sets of sisters who had met up for a night out. |
| “We need to mark the year anniversary to show that we’ll never forget them. Life goes on, but our neighbourhood will always remember this,” said Matthias, 46, a teacher, as grieving families gathered. | “We need to mark the year anniversary to show that we’ll never forget them. Life goes on, but our neighbourhood will always remember this,” said Matthias, 46, a teacher, as grieving families gathered. |
| A year on from the coordinated attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, Hollande unveiled plaques at each of the targeted sites, beginning at the national sports stadium in Saint-Denis where the first suicide bombs were detonated, followed by the bars and restaurants attacked by gunmen, and the Bataclan concert hall, where 90 were killed as men with automatic weapons burst into a rock gig. | A year on from the coordinated attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, Hollande unveiled plaques at each of the targeted sites, beginning at the national sports stadium in Saint-Denis where the first suicide bombs were detonated, followed by the bars and restaurants attacked by gunmen, and the Bataclan concert hall, where 90 were killed as men with automatic weapons burst into a rock gig. |
| Hollande, the least popular president since the second world war, made no speeches so as not to be accused of trying to gain political capital out of the moment of national sadness six months before the presidential election next spring. | Hollande, the least popular president since the second world war, made no speeches so as not to be accused of trying to gain political capital out of the moment of national sadness six months before the presidential election next spring. |
| France is still under a national state of emergency, and a parliamentary investigation this summer identified multiple failings by France’s intelligence agencies before the attacks. Most of the attackers were from France or Belgium and several had been on police security lists. Members of the same terror cell were behind the Brussels attacks that killed 32 people in March. | France is still under a national state of emergency, and a parliamentary investigation this summer identified multiple failings by France’s intelligence agencies before the attacks. Most of the attackers were from France or Belgium and several had been on police security lists. Members of the same terror cell were behind the Brussels attacks that killed 32 people in March. |
| Outside the Stade de France, the son of Portuguese-born Michael Dias, who was the first person to be killed, said in a speech: “Long live tolerance, long live intelligence, long live France.” | Outside the Stade de France, the son of Portuguese-born Michael Dias, who was the first person to be killed, said in a speech: “Long live tolerance, long live intelligence, long live France.” |
| Among those present at the unveiling of the Bataclan plaque were members of Eagles of Death Metal, the band that had been on stage when the gunmen hit. Sting had reopened the venue with an emotional gig on Saturday night. | Among those present at the unveiling of the Bataclan plaque were members of Eagles of Death Metal, the band that had been on stage when the gunmen hit. Sting had reopened the venue with an emotional gig on Saturday night. |
| Survivors and families later gathered at the town hall of the 11th arrondissement to remember those who died. | Survivors and families later gathered at the town hall of the 11th arrondissement to remember those who died. |
| Clémence, 30, from Paris, who had hidden in a dressing room toilet during the two-hour Bataclan attack, said it was important to stress the solidarity, support and kindness that had emerged after the attacks. | Clémence, 30, from Paris, who had hidden in a dressing room toilet during the two-hour Bataclan attack, said it was important to stress the solidarity, support and kindness that had emerged after the attacks. |
| “My boyfriend and I hid in a dressing room until the end. We saw and heard horrible things. We can never unsee those things, but we can turn them into something positive,” she said. | “My boyfriend and I hid in a dressing room until the end. We saw and heard horrible things. We can never unsee those things, but we can turn them into something positive,” she said. |
| “Even as soon as we were rescued by police, the officers in balaclavas that freed us, when they said: ‘Don’t worry, it’s over,’ there was so much kindness in their voices. Then so many people in neighbouring buildings came down to help us as we sheltered in courtyards, bringing blankets, coffee, chargers. | “Even as soon as we were rescued by police, the officers in balaclavas that freed us, when they said: ‘Don’t worry, it’s over,’ there was so much kindness in their voices. Then so many people in neighbouring buildings came down to help us as we sheltered in courtyards, bringing blankets, coffee, chargers. |
| “We had come out of something horrible into the other extreme of the kindness of strangers. That is what has helped me go forward.” | “We had come out of something horrible into the other extreme of the kindness of strangers. That is what has helped me go forward.” |
| She added: “The commemoration ceremonies are very important for us to support the families of those who lost someone. It’s vital that the people who died aren’t forgotten.” | She added: “The commemoration ceremonies are very important for us to support the families of those who lost someone. It’s vital that the people who died aren’t forgotten.” |
| For her, families had been brought closer together. “My parents had never said ‘I love you’ to me before. They do now.” | For her, families had been brought closer together. “My parents had never said ‘I love you’ to me before. They do now.” |
| She did not attend the reopening concert at the Bataclan but had not given up on music and, like most survivors, found solace in a particular song. Hers was the Smiths’ There is a Light that Never Goes Out. | She did not attend the reopening concert at the Bataclan but had not given up on music and, like most survivors, found solace in a particular song. Hers was the Smiths’ There is a Light that Never Goes Out. |