Nice marks 10 years since Promenade des Anglais attack as mayor pushes FIFA for World Cup silence

The march

Around a thousand people, many dressed in white and carrying a single white rose, gathered outside the Lenval children's hospital on Sunday morning to retrace the path of the 19-tonne truck that killed 86 and wounded more than 400 on Bastille Day 2016. The column, led by roughly 300 relatives of victims, moved along the full length of the Promenade des Anglais under a hot sun. The avenue was closed to cars and bicycles for the tribute but remained open to joggers and holidaymakers on the beach below.

It doesn't feel like ten years. I have the impression it was only two. There is sadness, but also a lot of anger.

Firefighters who treated the wounded that night were applauded as the cortege passed. Lieutenant Frédéric Dal-Pont, one of the responders present, said they had come to honour the victims, not themselves. "We weren't the victims that night. We were the rescuers," he told Franceinfo.

The ceremony

Participants stopped to lay wreaths at L'Ange de la Baie, a half-angel, half-bird sculpture by Jean-Marie Fondacaro installed near the spot where the truck was stopped and its driver, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, was shot dead by police. Roses were then placed at a kiosk in a nearby garden to the sound of a harp.

It was a very moving moment, very hard too, because we overcame our fears, our trauma.

Ben Aouissi, president of the association Une voie des enfants, said she hoped images of the march would help child victims who had been unable to return to "reclaim the Promenade des Anglais." Patrick Prigent, president of Life for Nice, described the tenth anniversary as a chance to "turn the page, not close the book, but turn the page."

What comes next

Commemorations continue Monday with an interfaith ceremony. On Tuesday 14 July, the main memorial event will be held at 18:15 in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron, followed by a drone show at 22:00. At the end of the display, 86 blue beams of light will be projected into the sky, one for each victim.

The FIFA request

Nice mayor Éric Ciotti wrote to FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Friday evening requesting a minute of silence before the France-Spain World Cup semi-final on 14 July, which falls exactly ten years after the attack. In his letter, Ciotti wrote that the gesture "would testify to the solidarity of the great football family towards the victims of terrorism and their loved ones." He also wrote to French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo, asking the FFF to back the request.

For now, I have no response. It is a day and a period of mourning and important commemorations for our city.

Speaking on BFMTV on Sunday, Ciotti said he had "seized" President Macron on Saturday evening but had yet to receive a reply. He confirmed the FFF supports the initiative. FIFA had not responded by Sunday midday.