France marks 10th anniversary of deadly Paris attacks

France marks 10th anniversary of deadly Paris attacks
The Eiffel Tower is lit up with the blue, white and red colours in Paris, France Nov 12, 2025.
Reuters

France marks on Thursday the 10th anniversary of the attacks in Paris on Thursday. The gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people in a rampage through cafés, restaurants, and the Bataclan concert hall, leaving many survivors still traumatised.

The attacks were the deadliest on French soil since World War Two, scarring the national psyche and prompting emergency security measures, many of which are now embedded in law.

"I remember clearly seeing the flame shooting out of the barrel of the gun," said Arthur Denouveaux, the president of the victims' association, Life for Paris.

"I remember lying on the ground and seeing the face of the girl who was looking at the terrorist, who was still standing there, looking motionless, and the people who grabbed her and took her to the ground," Denouveaux added.

The assault began with suicide bomb blasts outside the Stade de France sports stadium where then-President Francois Hollande and the German foreign minister were watching a friendly soccer international, and continued with gunmen opening fire at five other locations in central Paris.

President Emmanuel Macron will join officials, survivors and relatives of victims paying tribute to those killed and wounded in the attacks.

The memorial events begin at the Stade de France and move on to the restaurants and cafés that were attacked, as well as the Bataclan.

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