ceremony in memory of the eight victims of the rue de Tivoli

A hundred people paid tribute this Sunday morning to the eight victims who died in the collapse of a building at 17 rue de Tivoli last week.

Nicole Gacon, 65, lived on the ground floor, Anna Sinapi, 86, and Jacky Morand, 83, on the ground floor, Antoinette Vaccaro, 88, on the first floor, Marion Blox, 31, and Mickaël Lequeux, 29, on the second floor, Jacques Praxy and Anne-Marie Praxy, 74, on the third and top floor.

On the night of Saturday April 8 to Sunday April 9, at 12:46 a.m., the building at 17 rue de Tivoli collapsed. It took four days for rescue to extract all the bodies from the rubble. A tribute was paid to the eight victims this Sunday, April 16 at 11:30 a.m., at the corner of rue Eugène Pierre and rue Abbé de l’épée, in the 5th arrondissement.

The participants, numbering about a hundred, placed bouquets of flowers and candles in front of the security barrier barring access to the security perimeter surrounding the scene of the tragedy. “There are people mourning loved ones, parents who have lost their children, children who have lost their children, it’s important to be there to try to bring them some comfort, it’s the only thing I can do today”, testified a Marseillais from the 11th arrondissement, at the microphone of our journalists Etienne Bonnot and Nicolas Chaix-Brian.

Words of support as well as drawings were also hung on the security barriers, in front of which 8 minutes of silence were observed in tribute to the eight people who died.

The initiative was launched by the collective “Marseille angry” which brings together the families of victims and those affected by the disaster of November 5, 2018, rue d’Aubagne.

Nearly 200 people were evacuated from buildings on rue de Tivoli and surrounding streets. Some were able to return to their homes. Marseille mayor Benoît Payan tweeted that “THE Vallier stadium is still open this weekend to welcome and support all those evacuated following the tragedy in rue Tivoli. The emergency aid and support plan, which is dedicated to them, also remains active..

The mayor of Marseille had paid tribute to the victims and the rescuers during the city council on Friday.