Sat, Jan 23, 2021
Newsweek
World

Paris Attacks: Inquest Hears Moving Bataclan Death Testimony

By
Bataclan concert hall
French police block the access to the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, France, March 17, 2016. A survivor of the attack has told of her friend's death. Benoit Tessier/Reuters
World Paris Attacks Bataclan Court London

The ex-girlfriend of a British man who died in the Bataclan massacre during attacks on Paris in November 2015 has testified to a court about his final moments.

Helen Wilson, who was a friend and former partner of Nick Alexander, a merchandise manager who died during the assault on the concert, said in written testimony to a coroner's inquest that she and Alexander played dead as gunmen stormed the building.

Her moving written statement described how she felt Alexander die while she attempted to resuscitate him. "He felt cold," she said, according to The Guardian. "His eyes had changed. He was lifeless."

Wilson told the inquest that Alexander had been the "love of her life."

The senior coroner for Essex, Caroline Beasley-Murray, recorded a verdict of unlawful killing at the inquest in Chelmsford.

Request Reprint & Licensing, Submit Correction or view Editorial Guidelines