Families mourning Paris victims in a dozen countries

Families in more than a dozen countries are mourning after the Paris terror attacks that killed at least 129 people.

Families mourning Paris victims in a dozen countries

Families in more than a dozen countries are mourning after the Paris terror attacks that killed at least 129 people.

And as more than 350 people were injured in Friday’s night’s gun and suicide bombing attacks, with 99 in critical condition, the number is likely to rise.

The majority of the victims will be French, and they included Valentin Ribet, 26, a lawyer with the Paris office of the international law firm Hogan Lovells, who was among scores of people killed at a rock show in the Bataclan concert hall.

Mr Ribet received a master of laws degree from the London School of Economics last year, and earlier did postgraduate work at the Sorbonne university in Paris.

His law firm said he worked on the litigation team, specialising in white collar crime.

“He was a talented lawyer, extremely well liked, and a wonderful personality in the office,” the firm said.

Djamila Houd, 41, of Paris, originally from the town of Dreux, south-west of the capital, also died on Friday night.

The newspaper serving Dreux – L’Echo Republicain – said she was killed at a cafe on the rue de Charrone.

According to Facebook posts from grieving friends, she had worked for Isabel Marant, a prestigious Paris-based ready-to-wear house.

Thomas Ayad, 32, producer manager for Mercury Music Group and a music buff, was killed at the Bataclan. In his home town, Amiens, he was an avid follower of the local hockey team.

Lucian Grainge – the chairman of Universal Music Group, which owns Mercury Music – said the loss was “an unspeakably appalling tragedy,” in a note to employees.

The International Peace Bridge, which connects Canada and the United States, glows with the colors of the French flag in honor of the victims of the Paris attacks.
The International Peace Bridge, which connects Canada and the United States, glows with the colors of the French flag in honor of the victims of the Paris attacks.

Some of the world’s most famous buildings went dark in tribute to those killed, while others were lit in blue, white and red in solidarity with France.

In Dublin, the tri-colour is flying at half mast at Leinster House, as are other Irish flags around the country, and dozens of bunches of flowers have been left outside the French Embassy on nearby Merrion Square.

Landmark buildings - from the Sydney Opera House to Dublin's Convention Centre - have been lit up with the colours of the French flag.

The Eiffel Tower stood dark in a symbol of mourning as France struggled to absorb the deadliest violence on its soil since the second World War.

The 116-year-old monument normally is normally lit by scintillating lights every hour on the hour during the evening.

A crowd of up to 250 people gathered for an impromptu candlelight vigil at the Place de La Republique in Paris, the site of a massive demonstration in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings earlier this year.

Bernard Chambel, 66, said there is a difference between the attacks on Friday night and the January assault on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a Kosher supermarket that killed 17 victims.

He said January “was an attack on Jews, it was an attack on free expression”.

This, he said, “was an attack on a way of life – they shot without discrimination”.

The Empire State Building in New York City was dark in sympathy for the people of Paris for a second night.

But the 408ft spire on top of One World Trade Centre in the city was lit again in the colours of the French flag, and will remain blue, white and red tonight.

An an arch in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park was also illuminated with the French colours overnight.

A paddle wheel riverboat passes under a bridge illuminated with the colors of the French flag to show solidarity for the deadly Paris attacks Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015, in Nashville in the US.
A paddle wheel riverboat passes under a bridge illuminated with the colors of the French flag to show solidarity for the deadly Paris attacks Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015, in Nashville in the US.

In Washington DC, a crowd gathered outside the White House for a vigil near a statue of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general for whom the park in front of the executive mansion is named.

The French ambassador to the US, Gerard Araud, thanked the crowd for coming and led a minute of silence for the victims of the attack.

Antoine Verdeaux, 20, wore the red, white, and blue flag around his shoulders.

“I’m devastated by what happened. It’s horrible. It’s kind of sick to think that in today’s world people can do this to one another,” said the college student who was born in Paris and travels there nearly every year.

Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate was lit up in the colours of the French flag and hundreds of people gathered on Paris Square, in front of the gate, in a show of solidarity with France.

Flowers and candles were also been placed in front of the nearby French embassy in the German capital.

The hues of the Tricolor, the French flag, also lit the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil and London’s Tower Bridge.

A minute of silence for the victims of the Paris attacks was held ahead of the European Championship football qualifier between Sweden and Denmark.

Both teams stood with their heads bowed as 50,000 fans inside Friends Arena in Solna, Sweden, turned silent. The walls of the stadium were lit up in blue, white and red.

In Rome, officials turned off the lights at the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain for five minutes in solidarity with the people of Paris.

Around 100 Iranians held a candlelight vigil in front of the French Embassy in Tehran to mourn the victims of the Paris attacks.

The gathering late on Saturday was reported by the Shargh daily, a reformist newspaper. It said some of those gathered had posted hand-written messages of condolence on nearby walls.

Special church services are planned at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and around France in honour of those killed in the attacks that terrified the country.

Notre Dame, like other Paris sites, is closed to tourists today but will be open to churchgoers coming for services during the day.

A special Mass by Paris Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois will be held at 6.30pm local time for families of victims and survivors, and the church will ring its renowned bells in a special homage.

In a message to parishioners, the cardinal said: “Our country knows the pain of mourning and must face barbarity propagated by fanatical groups.”

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