Remembering The Victims Of The Paris Attacks

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Paris is one of the most cosmopolitan cities on Earth, so it's no surprise that the attack victims were from all over the world. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE: They came from France, of course, but also from Spain, Romania, Algeria, Mexico and Chile. Thirty-six-year-old Nick Alexander of the U.K. was believed to be selling merchandise at the Bataclan concert hall when he died. A family statement said he was everyone's best friend - generous, funny and fiercely loyal. Cedric Mauduit was a local government official from Normandy who was attending the concert with five friends. The government's website said everyone who worked with him could appreciate his competence and his humane qualities. Guillaume Decherf was a music critic who had written about Eagles of Death Metal. He was at the Bataclan when they performed Friday. Nohemi Gonzales is the lone American identified so far. A design student on a study abroad program, she was in a restaurant when she was killed. Her professor at Cal State Long Beach, Michael LaForte, spoke at a press conference.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

MICHAEL LAFORTE: Nohemi was something of a star in our department. She was a shining star, and she brought joy, happiness, laughter to everybody she worked with.

ZARROLI: If there's anything that stands out about the victims, it's how very young so many of them were. Valentin Ribet was a 26-year-old white-collar crime lawyer who'd studied at the London School of Economics. Thomas Ayad worked for a recording company and played in a local hockey club which held a moment of silence for him today. Quentin Boulenger was 29. After the attacks, his parents searched desperately for him, leaving messages on his cell phone - messages that went unanswered. Twenty-three-year-old Elodie Breuil had marched with her mother in the demonstrations that took place after the Charlie Hebdo shootings last January. She went to the concert Friday, and that was the last her family ever heard from her. Jim Zarroli, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.