PARIS — Six months after the November terror attacks here, survivors and family members of the 130 people killed in coordinated attacks across the city met Tuesday with the justices in charge of the ongoing investigation, seeking closure to the deadliest incident on French soil since 1945.
During a three-day hearing that began on Tuesday, more than 1,000 people touched by the attacks demanded specifics on how their loved ones died and how such a tragedy could have happened in a city like Paris. Most of those who died were shot as they watched a concert, others while they drank and chatted with friends at cafes.
The November bloodshed was ultimately claimed by the Islamic State, whose operatives largely planned their attacks from nearby Brussels. The same cell of terrorists then carried out the March 22 attacks on the Belgian capital’s international airport and metro system.
In France, hearings between judges and victims are customary after significant crises. What makes this particular hearing different, according to Juliette M?adel, the secretary of state responsible for victim support, is the staggering numbers: There are over 1,000 people represented as civil parties in this case, a number so large that Tuesday’s hearing was held at an amphitheater at Paris’s ?cole Militaire.
