French President Emmanuel Macron paid homage Monday to families and survivors of France’s deadliest terror attack in Paris two years ago in which 130 people died and more than 35 were wounded.
Visibly moved, Macron and his wife Brigitte consoled relatives and survivors at a ceremony in the French capital to mark the occasion. Psychiatrists and security personnel were also on hand to comfort the bereaved, many finding it difficult to stand because of their grief, CNN’s French affiliate BFMTV reported.
ISIS extremists caused carnage on November 13, 2015 when, using explosive devices and machine guns, they attacked people in cafes, the national stadium and the Bataclan theater where the US rock group Eagles of Death Metal were playing a gig.
Monday’s memorial ceremony was followed by a concert by Eagles of Death Metal, the second given by the band in Paris since the attacks.
The 2015 attacks began at 9.16 p.m. local time, when three suicide bombers detonated a bomb outside the Stade de France during a football match attended by then French President Francois Hollande.
There then followed several mass shootings, and a suicide bombing, at caf?s and restaurants. Finally, gunmen killed 89 people attending the rock concert.
Seven of the attackers also died in the attacks. The suspected ringleader, the Belgian-Moroccan Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was subsequently killed during a police raid, along with his female cousin.
Two other alleged attackers, Mohamed Abrini and Saleh Abdeslam are currently in custody in Belgium and France.