France to honour victims 10 years after attacks at Bataclan concert hall

Ten years since the attacks in Paris at the Bataclan, France is preparing to pay tribute to the victims of the assaults that left more than 130 dead and more than 400 injured.

Ten years on, survivors of the Paris attacks struggle to cope with the trauma as France prepares to pay tribute Thursday to the victims of the assaults that left more than 130 people dead and more than 400 injured.

“The 10th anniversary is here and emotions and tension are everywhere for us survivors,” said 39-year-old Arthur Denouveaux, president of victims’ association Life for Paris. “That kind of shields us from the world in a way, because we’re so focused on the grief and on remembering those who lost their lives.”

On Nov. 13, 2015, nine Islamic State group gunmen and suicide bombers struck within minutes of one another at several locations in the deadliest violence to strike France since World War II.

They targeted fans at the Stade de France stadium and cafe-goers and ending with a bloodbath in the Bataclan, killing 130 people. Two survivors who later took their own life as consequence of the physical and mental trauma also have been recognized as victims.

Denouveaux was at the concert of the Californian rock band Eagles of Death Metal at the Bataclan. Since then, he has made a point of telling his story, talking to the media and writing books to keep what happened from being forgotten.

“The hardest part is Nov. 14 when you have to get back to normal life somehow and the grief is still here, but the bond is a little more distant,” Denouveaux told The Associated Press.

At 9:47 p.m., three gunmen burst into the Bataclan, firing indiscriminately and killing 90 people.

Denouveaux escaped when he heard the first gun shots by crawling toward the nearest emergency exit door.