Nice commemorated Wednesday "without hatred" the five years of an attack which targeted "the whole of France" on July 14, according to Prime Minister Jean Castex. Some 400 people, mostly victims and families of victims, gathered on Wednesday in the gardens of Villa Massena, a few steps from the Promenade des Anglais, where a jihadist attack left 86 dead. 

White roses and 86 doves soaring into the sky in memory of the lives cut short: Nice commemorated Wednesday "without hatred" the five years of an attack which targeted "the whole of France" on July 14, according to the Prime Minister Jean Castex. Some 400 people, mostly victims and families of victims, gathered on Wednesday in the gardens of Villa Massena, a few steps from the Promenade des Anglais. It was on this famous seafront that, on July 14, 2016, a jihadist attack had transformed "a hot, happy and festive evening" into "chaos", "hell", recalled Stéphane Erbs, co-president of the association. Promenade des Anges.

That evening, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a Tunisian in his thirties living in Nice, had rushed behind the wheel of a 19-ton truck in the midst of the 30,000 people gathered for the fireworks, mowing down dozens of people within two minutes, before the police shot him down.

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Commemoration of the Nice attack: "I am still devastated by this tragedy", explains Estrosi

The attack was claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State, which then controlled territories in Iraq and Syria and carried out deadly attacks in several countries around the world, although the investigation did not confirm any connection between the ultra-radical organization. and its author.

"On July 14, 2016 in Nice, it was the Republic that was targeted," insisted Prime Minister Jean Castex, present at this tribute with several ministers, reaffirming the government's will never to "give in to barbarism (. ..) on all terrains ".

"A harder life"

"Five years is hardly the time to realize that a new life has begun, a life where every day is a test (...), a more difficult life, more bitter, more bitter, subject to so much angers and questions, "recalled Stéphane Erbs, who lost his wife in the attack.

 "If there's one thing I can say, it's that we'll never be the same. If there's one thing I can say too, it's that we are absolutely going to stand up." not take the "destructive path" of hatred, for her part stressed Hager ben Aouissi, co-president of the association Life for Nice, a miracle victim of the attack who threw herself to the ground with her five-year-old daughter between truck wheels, to avoid being crushed.

On this Wednesday of tribute, the photos of the 86 people killed, of all ages and nationalities, were placed in front of the plexiglass heart which serves as a memorial in the gardens of the Villa Massena.

Their names were read during the ceremony accompanied by a piece of music played on the harp.

In the evening, at 10:34 p.m., time of the attack, 86 white light beams all converging on the same point were lit facing the Mediterranean Sea in memory of each of the dead.

5 years.

And always the same emotion by meditating in front of these 86 lights which light up the sky of # Nice06 in memory of the 86 angels who died on # July 14, 2016. Thoughts for all the victims.

pic.twitter.com/UROb4b2Yc7

- Christian Estrosi (@cestrosi) July 14, 2021

For many relatives of victims, it is still impossible to grieve.

Several parents were only able to recover the organs taken from their children for autopsy and sealed by justice last year.

Some dispute its authenticity and have seized the Defender of Rights after the refusal of a DNA analysis.

In addition to the 86 victims killed and the 206 victims physically injured, a total of 1,683 people are considered to be psychically injured in the attack.

The children "have lived what nobody is prepared to live, five years later it is still there, in memory, in nightmares, in a police siren", recalled Hager Ben Aouissi while 300 children are still followed at the Lenval hospital in Nice for the psychotrauma suffered.

Hope

Many victims await the trial, "difficult but necessary step", recalled Stéphane Erbs, hoping that justice "punishes with firmness". The trial of the eight people suspected of helping Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel will be held in Paris from September 5 to November 15, 2022.

If the civil parties (more than 850) and their lawyers welcomed this referral to the assizes, they deplore however that two of the defendants, prosecuted for common law offenses, were released in November following a procedural defect. . Several victims also regretted the slowness of the investigation conducted in Nice for "unintentional homicides and injuries" on the security device deployed that evening, co-piloted by the prefecture and the town hall. Mr Erbs demanded that "light be shed on the various failures which have led to such a heavy toll".

Anne Murris, who lost her 27-year-old daughter and chairs the Memorial des Anges association, again pleaded for the creation of a national memorial-museum in Nice. And to call for hope to be reborn: "Even if the pain persists and the scars are far from being closed (...), Nice shines and will always shine"