Nick... you are and always will be the love of my life
THEY were the faces not of soldiers or politicians, or people who wanted to wage war. They were for the most part fresh-faced youngsters who had hoped only to enjoy a night out at a rock concert.
Within hours of the terrorist attacks, their images started appearing on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. All that relatives and those who loved them wanted to know was… were they alive?
One was Nick Alexander from Colchester in Essex, who had been selling merchandise at the concert by rock band Eagles Of Death Metal as fans thronged into the Bataclan.
Then the firing started. No one was sure at first where it was coming from. Soon there were people on the floor in pools of blood.
Nick’s girlfriend Polina Buckley was quick to begin posting messages on Twitter after hearing about events in the French capital.
‘Someone please help me find my boyfriend Nick Alexander,’ she posted. ‘Merch guy for EODM [Eagles of Death Metal].’
In another tweet, she posted a picture of her smiling boyfriend, with the simple plea: ‘Please help me find Nick Alexander.’
By mid-afternoon yesterday she knew Nick was dead. She found out not from the authorities but from details posted online.
Her heartbroken response was to upload a picture of her and Nick sharing a kiss with the message: ‘You are and always will be the love of my life, Nick Alexander.’
A friend of Mr Alexander, 36, who was at the concert with him, revealed that he had died in her arms after being shot. Helen Wilson, an American who survived after being wounded in both legs, said she had desperately tried to keep him breathing as they lay on the floor of the concert hall.
Speaking from her hospital bed she said: ‘Nick was shot in front of me. We heard a couple of noises outside and people started running into the club. We didn’t know what was going on. Then maybe five, six guys came in with machine guns and shotguns and just started shooting people. It was mayhem. When anyone started running they would shoot them down. So we got down on the floor. I was afraid whenever I heard a step behind me... they machine-gunned everybody.’
Later Mr Alexander’s family issued a statement through the Foreign Office. It said: ‘It is with huge sorrow that we can confirm that our beloved Nick lost his life at the Bata- clan. Nick was not just our brother, son and uncle, he was everyone’s best friend – generous, funny and fiercely loyal. Nick died doing the job he loved and we take great comfort in knowing how much he was cherished by his friends around the
world. Thank you for your thoughts and respect for our family at this difficult time. Peace and light.’
The death of Caroline Prénat, a 24-year-old who was also at the Bataclan, was also announced online, on a friend’s Twitter account. Miss Prénat had attended the gig with a group of friends including French fashion designer Emile Thoreens, who escaped with her life because she went to the lavatory minutes before the shooting started and escaped through a fire escape.
She said: ‘I decided, if I stay here, they’re going to find me. I just ran out and found an exit door.
‘Once I was outside, I tried to contact my friends who were still inside. I came back towards the entrance and the shooting started again. I don’t know if they were shooting people trying to get out but they were still shooting and shooting. I ran away.’
Valentin Ribet, a young lawyer who studied at the London School of Economics, was confirmed dead on Twitter by the university. ‘Our hearts are filled with sadness at this news,’ an announcement stated.
As the survivors began to tell their stories, two British students told how they crawled over dead bodies. Friends Hanna Corbett and Jack Konda, both 21, dropped to the floor and narrowly avoided death as they crept on their hands and knees to safety.
Miss Corbett, a third-year history student at the University of Nottingham, said: ‘There was just a pile of people by the fire exit. We didn’t know what we were crawling over.’
Two best friends from Scotland, Mariesha Payne and Christine Tudhope, also made it out of the venue alive after hiding in a cellar for three hours.
They were in Paris to celebrate Miss Tudhope’s 35th birthday and had been standing near the front of the stage.
Mother-of-two Mrs Payne, 33, said: ‘I never thought I would see my children again. I cannot believe we got out alive. While we were hiding there was a pause in the shots for about 20 minutes but there was a lot of screaming – a witness we spoke to later said people were being tortured and stabbed at that point.’
Dozens of people were still missing, feared dead last night.
Lola Salines, Marie Mosser, Mathieu Hoche and Marie Lausch were all reported to be dead by friends and family on social-networking sites. Mathieu Hoche had a six-yearold child.
There was no news of 14-year-old Jawed Benlamaet, Anthony Mouillinet, 20, Jordan Dubois, 20, Thomas Duperron, 30, Francois-Xavier Prevost, Isabelle Merlin, Maud Serrault and Gaelle Messager and a man named only as Christophe by his relatives on social media.