Gwladys Laffitte with AFP 10:23 p.m., May 04, 2022, modified at 10:24 p.m., May 04, 2022
At the trial of the attacks, the court made a return of six months back on Wednesday by plunging back into the hearings of civil parties and in particular that of a firefighter present at the Carillon.
On the outskirts of the courtroom, many had wondered how this strange new phase of testimony would go, as the trial draws to a close.
TESTIMONY
The long silent walk towards the bar and the inspiration, before telling his "13-November".
At the trial of the attacks, the court made a return of six months back on Wednesday by plunging back into the hearings of civil parties and in particular that of a firefighter present at the Carillon.
On the outskirts of the courtroom, many had wondered how this strange new phase of testimony would go, as the trial draws to a close.
Very quickly, however, the ritual set up in the fall facing the court by 350 survivors or relatives was put back in place.
"I understood what was going on"
Gray long-sleeved t-shirt, shaved black hair, Christophe, 33, clings firmly to the desk, as so many others had done before him.
His sentences are short and factual, his regular silences help him control his voice.
Christophe is a firefighter.
On the evening of November 13, 2015, called for a fall in a supermarket, he had parked his ambulance opposite the terraces of Carillon and Petit Cambodge.
With his two 20-year-old colleagues, they took charge of the lady in the truck when "the appalling, cold, dry noise" sounded.
It's 9:24 p.m.
"I understood what was happening," said Christophe, who asked for reinforcements.
"It's still pulling, I don't feel anything anymore, I'm just waiting for them to finish their job".
Christophe is silent.
"121 cartridges of war fired in 2 minutes 30 that's almost one cartridge per second".
Christophe opens the door of the truck, hit by several bullet holes.
On the ground, he describes, "a woman face down, she took a bullet in the face".
Another riddled with projectiles - "she's dying."
Everywhere, "the open eyes of the dead", the streaks of blood, the groans.
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"I force myself"
"They're trying to kill us, I can't run away and I have to do my job as a firefighter. Hell."
The "professional" takes over.
To his colleagues: "Take care of people who are conscious."
"I want to cry because I don't understand, I want to cry because I don't want to believe it," soberly says Christophe, head down.
"I want to cry because I'm afraid of the over-attack, I want to cry for all the disgusting things I've seen and still see."
Before him, Juan-Pablo and Carla, two young people from a group of international architects, had recounted the shooting of the Carillon from the inside and the death of their friend Raphaël.
"I forced myself to stay in Paris," explains Juan-Pablo, a Canadian of South American origin, now 34 years old.
"I force myself to walk in the streets, to sit on the terrace, to eat with my back to the outside, to take the metro. I think I force myself a little less now, but the fear is still there".
In his mind as an architect, Juan-Pablo now draws, wherever he is, "virtual plans" of places to identify emergency exits.
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Farewell to carelessness
From all the testimonies of this first day of new hearings - approximately 90 people must be heard until May 12, before the start of the pleadings - this time again stands out the impossible life after - between anxiety attacks, nightmares and uncontrollable anger.
After three hours of round trips to evacuate the wounded, Christophe had left behind him "(s) terraces" and "(s) carelessness".
And kept the guilt.
Those of the "appalling choices" he had to make that evening, he told relatives of the deceased victims.
"I did everything I could, I had to let people die to save others. At 26, I had all these lives that depended on me", apologizes the one who s struggled with himself to continue his job as before but ended up giving up - he is now training.
"They had me worn out."
Because "life goes on", Christophe wants to end with good news - he will be "dad before the end of the year".
He wanted to announce it here, "to everyone", he adds, "whether you are victims or not, whether you are in the dock or not".