Five years later: Vigils honor victims of Quebec mosque shooting

People across Quebec gathered Saturday to honour the victims of the 2017 mosque shooting in Quebec City, when six Muslim worshippers were killed and five were seriously injured by a lone gunman.

In Quebec City, a vigil took place before the Islamic Cultural Centre, with survivors and their families in attendance as well as Premier Francois Legault.

“We commemorate the fifth anniversary of a terrible killing [and fulfill] our duty of remembrance to our brothers who fell under the bullets of hatred,” said Aymen Derbali, a survivor of the shooting, who was hit by several bullets and now uses a wheelchair.

Those killed in the Jan. 29 attack were Ibrahima Barry, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Abdelkrim Hassane and Azzedine Soufiane, who had 17 children between them.

Survivor Mohamed Hafid spoke as well, reminding the crowd that “unfortunately, racism and Islamophobia still exist in our society” and that violence must be denounced “in all its forms.”