SAN FRANCISCO—Dozens of San Francisco residents gathered Thursday, July 14, to mourn the victim’s whose lives were lost in Nice, France, when a 19-ton refrigerator truck plowed through a Bastille Day crowd, killing 84 people and injuring nearly 200 others.
San Francisco’s French Consulate hosted an intimate and emotional vigil at their embassy, located at 88 Kearny Street. Outside of the consulate a sign reads, “Pray for Nice.”
Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, the French Consul General of San Francisco led those gathered in a moment of silence, followed by La Marseillaise, the French National Anthem.
Some of those in attendance were from Nice, and the terror attack particularly resignated with them, like Roxane Baudoin, who’s in San Francisco working as an au pair, but says she was living and working in Nice before coming the U.S., according to KTVU.
“I’m a nurse and so was working in an intensive care unit in Nice so I have big thoughts for all my ex-coworkers because I’m sure they are working extra hard tonight to save people’s lives,” Baudoin told KTVU reporters.
The French flag, which was raised Thursday morning in recognition of Bastille Day was lowered to half-mast by noon – a sign of solidarity and support.
A larger gathering to pray for the Nice victims is scheduled for Saturday, July 16, at 3 p.m. in front of San Francisco City Hall.
The Bastille Day attack comes just eight months after ISIS militants killed 130 people in Paris on November 13, 2015.
The President of the French Republic has declared three days of national mourning for July 16, 17, and 18, as a tribute to the victims.
San Francisco News reached out to the San Francisco French Consulate for comment, but did not hear back before print.
