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NICE, KOMPAS.com – Authorities have revealed the identities of the three victims who died in a knife attack in the church of Nice, France.
Two of the victims were women and one was a man, all adults. Their lives were taken away in the incident that occurred on Thursday morning (10/29/2020).
The following is the profile of the three victims prepared by the news agency. AFP.
Also read: Before taking action, the French Church terrorists had a family phone call
1. Vincent Loques
Loques is a church worker in charge of maintaining the building and will turn 55 on Friday, according to pastor Franklin Parmentier.
“He keeps this church beautiful and clean,” said the pastor. AFP.
Loques is the person who opens the doors of the Notre-Dame basilica every day and prepares for mass and other religious activities.
“He’s a good man, excited,” said former priest Jean-Louis Gordian.
Loques remarried and had two daughters from his first marriage.
Pastor Gil Florini explained that Loques had worked for about 20 years in two churches in Nice, and was “an ordinary man, kind, open and pleasant.”
Also read: After the terrorist attacks, residents place flowers and candles in front of the Church of Notre-Dame
Meanwhile, Ludovic Balade saw Loques almost every morning having coffee near the church.
“He was always smiling, and he always had time for other people, for the neighborhood and for the basilica,” Balade said after placing a wreath of white roses at the entrance.
Then-parish treasurer Jean-Francois Gourdon said Loques came from a family of clergy and that he received “217 voice messages and more than 300 text messages” asking about Loques’s condition after the attack.
“Previously he worked in construction, skilled at using tools and building beautiful Christmas decorations,” recalls Gourdon.
Also read: Suspect of murder in the French Church: 21-year-old Tunisian
2. Simone Barreto Silva
Brazilian authorities confirmed that Brazilian national Silva, 44, was killed in the attack, people closest to him said. AFP.
Silva briefly ran to a restaurant near the church after being attacked, but died shortly after from his injuries.
Neighbors say Silva is single mother of three children, two of whom were very young.
“Simone is a wonderful woman, always smiling, she talks to everyone and comes to eat with her family and sister,” said Angela Tavares, who runs a cafe and restaurant with Cape Verdean menus in Silva’s apartment.
Also read: The last message from the mother of 3 children who were victims of the attack in the French church of Nice
Silva often stopped by for coffee there before picking up his children from school.
“He loved the picanhas, Brazilian specialties made with beef. One day we played music and danced together,” Tavares recalled, shedding tears.
Nathalie Moya, who heads the Jorge Francois Forum, an association that helps women, said: AFP that “We work with her as part of the ‘Women and Stars’ project that helps with food service training.”
“He got a diploma two years ago and wants to open a restaurant,” Moya continued.
Also read: Seconds of brutal terror in the French church of Notre-Dame
3. The third victim
Little is known about the third victim, a 60-year-old woman who was most seriously injured and has not been identified.
He is married, has grown children and goes to church, said a source close to the case.
Counterterrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said the woman’s body was found at the entrance of the basilica with cuts to the neck as a decapitation.
Also read: French Muslims caring for and sympathizing with the murder in the church of the city of Nice
