About 1,000 people took part in a silent march along Nice’s Promenade des Anglais on Sunday morning, opening commemorations marking 10 years since the 14 July 2016 truck attack that killed 86 people and injured more than 400.
On the evening of 14 July 2016, a 19-tonne cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. The driver was Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a Tunisian living in France, who carried it out working for the Islamic state.
Most participants wore white and carried a white rose. They gathered outside Lenval children’s hospital, where the lorry began its deadly route and where many of the injured were treated, while hundreds of traumatised children later received support.
The march was led by nearly 300 relatives of victims. In intense heat, they walked the full length of the seafront boulevard, which was closed to cars and bicycles for the tribute but remained open to large numbers of holidaymakers.
Representatives of the four victims’ associations involved in organising the commemorations were joined by local officials, including the mayor, municipal councillors, the prefect and the public prosecutor. Firefighters and representatives of OGC Nice, the city’s football club, also attended.
“It helps to see that we are not alone and that people are also making this important moment their own,” said Patrick Prigent, president of the Life for Nice association. He said the 10-year mark was “an important moment” and an opportunity to “turn the page — not close the book, but turn the page”.
The procession paused for a wreath-laying ceremony at L’Ange de la Baie, a half-angel, half-bird sculpture by Jean-Marie Fondacaro installed near the avenue where the lorry was stopped and its driver, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, was shot dead by police.
The commemorations are due to continue on Monday with an interfaith ceremony, followed on Tuesday by a memorial ceremony attended by President Emmanuel Macron and a drone display, after which 86 blue beams will be projected into the sky.
