Saida and Linda, two relatives of one of the victims of the collapse of the rue d'Aubagne, burst into tears during the tribute ceremony -
Christophe Simon / AFP
This Thursday, hundreds of Marseillais gathered rue d'Aubagne in tribute to the eight dead in the collapses of November 5
For the first time, elected representatives of the majority mingled with the crowd for this commemorative ceremony organized by residents.
Local residents and families of victims are now demanding justice, while Marseille Habitat has been indicted.
Suddenly, in front of the gaping hole which is offered to her, a woman breaks the heavy silence which has seized the rue d'Aubagne and gives a cry of heartbreaking despair.
“Cherif!
Where is he ?
Saida bursts into tears in the arms of her relatives.
His nephew, barely 36 years old, is one of eight Marseillais who were killed two years ago, on November 5, 2018, in the collapse of several dilapidated buildings.
Around her, the masked faces of the hundreds of Marseillais who came to pay homage to the victims remain forbidden in front of this hollow tooth which disfigured the district of Noailles and still tears hearts today.
A dozen of them brandished torches, "to shed light on these lives that are no more".
"I am here, and I am reliving everything," says Saida.
The six days sitting here, waiting for them to find the body.
I feel like it was yesterday.
Every time I come back here it's a trauma.
Two years later, the anger is intact.
“It was not an accident, plague Saïda.
We have pain and grief and rage.
"" All this is because of Marseille Habitat, the State, elected officials of the former majority, his daughter Linda loses his temper.
So I'm waiting for one thing: those responsible are condemned.
I don't care about damages.
Me what I want, that they are all convicted criminally.
Yesterday there was an indictment, and there will be others!
"
"We came to demand justice"
This Tuesday, the Marseille Criminal Court has indeed carried out the first indictment in the investigation into this tragedy, that of the lessor Marseille Habitat, owner of one of the two collapsed buildings.
“People died, but two years later, the wound has not healed,” sighs Baya.
I lived next door, in a rotten apartment, which I was rushed to evacuate.
And since June 13, 2018, I live at the hotel.
Frankly, it's hard.
Evenings, I want to kill myself.
"
In the distance, a woman begins to sound bluesy, in this square which adjoins the hollow tooth.
Then another sings a cappella a Kabyle song about death.
"I am a neighbor who comes simply in homage to my neighbors who died", murmurs Nadia, very moved.
The crowd sings with her her cover of "My friend the rose", in which she exclaims: "But where is the State?
He doesn't answer us.
He waits for us to exhaust ourselves when we have come to demand justice on behalf of the missing.
"
“But where is the state?
He does not answer us!
»Pic.twitter.com/bmg5fLwh0H
- Mathilde Ceilles (@MathildeCeilles) November 5, 2020
A place of 5-November
For the first time since the tragedy, elected representatives from the majority discreetly mingled in this tribute organized by residents and citizens' groups.
The former mayor of Marseille, Jean-Claude Gaudin, has in fact never gathered on the spot, nor has received the families of the victims.
For this second anniversary, no political figure from this former majority is present.
On the other hand, in the absence of the mayor Michèle Rubirola, contact case to Covid-19 and appeared very weakened during a press conference on Tuesday, the majority was represented by several elected officials, including the first deputy Benoît Payan and the mayor of Sophie Camard sector.
It is she who will accompany the family of Chérif in the heart of the hollow tooth, to deposit some flowers.
“Coming here is a political act, but I came here as a citizen,” says the mayor.
I didn't ask myself the question.
It was natural.
“Unlike the ones before, they are with us,” says Saida.
When we told them our story, the deputies cried.
They will take care of the funeral, because Mr. Méry, the former deputy, had promised it to us, but he did nothing.
He made fun of us and on top of that, he even lost our papers.
"
"It is important that the elected officials are there, but beyond their presence, we ask them for political acts for the displaced, in the face of administrative slowness", tempers Zohra, member of the November 5 collective.
On his mouth, a mask inscribed "Neither forgetting, nor forgiveness".
"We are still in a phase of dialogue, and we are carrying out consultation work on the future of the district," says Sophie Camard.
I understand the impatience, I am the first to find that it is not going fast enough.
But we work with the State and the metropolis.
"According to Sophie Camard, the place which adjoins the hollow tooth should be renamed" place du 5-Novembre "during the next municipal council.
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Marseilles
Ceremony
Commemoration
Collapse
Justice
Collapsed buildings in Marseille