Maximilien Carlier 10:58 am, May 25, 2023

This Thursday noon will take place the ceremony of tribute to the three young police officers who died last Sunday in a road accident. Emmanuel Macron will be there, as well as elected officials and residents of the city, who wanted to be present. A few hours before the ceremony, emotion is running high in Roubaix.

The time of tributes and contemplation in Roubaix after the death of three police officers last Sunday, hit by an alcoholic and drugged driver who was driving the wrong way. The ceremony will take place at noon, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, who has jostled his agenda to get there. In front of the Roubaix police academy where this ceremony will take place, the whole city is preparing to pay tribute to the three policemen.

"You have to be there for them today"

Police officers arrive in front of this school, with their uniforms in their bags or on a hanger, their faces grave. Four days after the tragedy, emotion is still very strong in Roubaix. Very affected, Pascale, a resident, came to lay a bouquet of flowers. "I had to be there for everything they do for us. We call them, they are there, they are on the road. I think mainly of parents or grandparents, because one of the three had just had a baby. They are there for us in difficult times, we must also be there for them today," she said with emotion.

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Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron are expected at 11 a.m. on site. How will the ceremony take place? It will take place in the courtyard of the police academy. At noon, the review of the troops will precede the entry of the three coffins. Emmanuel Macron will then speak before presenting insignia of the Legion of Honor posthumously. The tribute ceremony will last about 30 minutes.

The families of the victims will obviously be on site as well as Manon's colleagues, Paul and Steven from the Roubaix police station. Elected officials, deputies, senators and the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, will also be present. Proof of the excitement that this accident has caused, a hundred inhabitants will also be in the audience. The prefecture sent an online registration form on Wednesday and all places were distributed within hours.