“I have returned to a normal life, even if the memory remains,” assures Lassana Bathily. Ten years ago, this young man saved many lives during the attack on the Hyper Cacher at Porte de Vincennes (20th arrondissement of Paris), which occurred on January 9, 2015. Lassana Bathily worked in the supermarket where Amedy Coulibaly killed four people. At the microphone of RFI, the man who was immediately described as a national hero, returned to this day.
If he first thought of a car accident, the young man then aged 24 quickly understood that the situation was more serious. He managed to hide six people, including a baby, in a cold room in the basement of the store.
He managed to escape
Lassana Bathily kept the door closed and asked customers to put their phones on silent, says The Parisian. He, who knows the store well, decides to leave the premises using the freight elevator. But as soon as he left, he was arrested by the police, who took him for a terrorist. “I was handcuffed for more than an hour and a half! » he reminded RFI.
-But once his identity was confirmed, the young man was of great help to the police by very precisely detailing the configuration of the store. Contact with one of the hostages also allowed the police to best prepare their intervention.
No religion
Ten years after the events, Lassana Bathily has forgotten nothing. But he remains humble: “I am not a hero, just a simple citizen who reacted at the right time.” The man from Mali, who has since acquired French nationality, was also considered a symbol: of Muslim faith, he saved the customers of a kosher store. On this subject, he explained to RFI: “I have saved human beings, whether they are Jews, atheists… It doesn’t matter what their belief is.” He assures that the post-attack was not easy for him: “Everyone was talking about me, it overwhelmed me.”
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