Thirteen coffins draped in blue-white-red: the funeral cortege will cross Paris and confront France with a disastrous image of its commitment to the Sahel. On Monday, the country pays a national tribute to the soldiers who died a week ago in Mali.
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Emmanuel Macron will preside at a local ceremony starting at 3 pm in honor of the thirteen soldiers killed in the collision of two helicopters during a combat operation, in the north-east of Mali - ceremony to follow live on France 24 in a special edition presented by Julien Fanciulli.
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta will assist alongside the French government and families of soldiers at this tribute organized in the courtyard of the Hôtel des Invalides, in Paris, which hosts since the 17th century veterans and wounded of war and is home to the tomb of Napoleon.
President Macron will deliver a eulogy before awarding the Légion d'honneur, posthumously, to each of these thirteen soldiers "dead for France", in front of some 2,500 people, dignitaries and anonymous alike.
Parisians will be able to collect coffins on Alexandre III Bridge at 11:30 am. Then a giant screen will broadcast the tribute to the esplanade des Invalides.