The tribute to the victims took place in the presence of the Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, and the mayor of the city, Christian Estrosi.
Emotion on the Promenade des Anglais this Thursday afternoon. Six years to the day after the attack that killed 86 people on the Promenade des Anglais on the evening of July 14, 2016, a tribute ceremony took place in the presence of the relatives of the victims, the Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond- Moretti, and the mayor of the city Christian Estrosi.
“Angel of the Bay” unveiled
In the preamble to the ceremony, the memorial work in tribute to the victims of the attack in Nice, “The Angel of the Bay”, was also unveiled. The sculpture required six months of work from the Nice artist Jean-Marie Fondacaro.
“Justice must do its work”
Despite the pain of the families of the victims, some of whom had not returned to the Promenade des Anglais since the tragic evening of July 14, 2016, many of them were present during the ceremony. All were able to be represented by the various members of the victims’ associations who succeeded each other at the desk.
“We are trying to find meaning in this act, but it is impossible,” said Didier Matrat, member of the “Life for Nice” association in his speech during the tribute to the “86 angels” victims of the attack. from 14-July 2016.
If Hager Ben Aouissi, founder of the association “A way of the children” keeps “hope that [les] children will rebuild themselves”, seeing in the Angel of the Bay “a real hymn to life”, others are already turning to the new stage of their battle: the future trial of the attack which will open on 5 September in Paris for more than three months.
A trial which “will be the only opportunity to speak, express oneself and testify”, declared Stéphane Erbs, of the association Promenade des Anges, in his speech, and which echoes another speech given during the ceremony, that of the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti: “A new stage will begin. Justice must do its work”, declared the Keeper of the Seals.
The names of the victims spoken
Christian Estrosi remembers for his part the “path learned to travel” alongside the victims: “Together we faced the unspeakable”, recalls the mayor of the city of Nice.
“Our 86 angels are the sadly unbearable image of this world of the dead. Yet we here, you, bereaved and wounded families, we definitely refuse this world despite everything”, declared Christian Estrosi.
To conclude the ceremony, the names of the 86 victims of the attack of July 14, 2016 were pronounced, before La Marseillaise resounded on the Promenade des Anglais.
White roses were finally laid by the officials and the families of the victims at the foot of the newly inaugurated Angel of the Bay. The ceremony will last approximately one hour.
–
