Below are some words from Jill Pirdas about the events eight years ago
On a warm evening on the 14th of July 2016 a white 19 ton lorry was parked discreetly in a side road that leads onto the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. Behind the wheel sat Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel.
At the same time, about thirty thousand people were waiting expectantly for the traditional firework display that is offered by the Ville de Nice to celebrate Bastille Day or la Fete Nationale. Families and friends sat in groups on the beaches or strolled down the pavement on the waterfront that sweeps around la Baie des Anges.
There was a wonderful mix of nationalities, and the display was glorious. Children sat on their father’s shoulders watching the cascades of brilliant lights falling from the skies until the finalé of bursting multicoloured stars and huge detonations heralded the end of the show. It was now 10.20 p.m. People gradually dispersed, some to the east and some to the west down the Prom. And it was from the west that the white lorry came, the driver hell-bent on death and destruction.
Eighty-six people died that night and over four hundred were wounded. What happened? How could this be? Was it due to mental illness, religious conviction or radicalization? Certainly, this man had a troubled past: violent, given to drink, depression and bouts of rage, but to have premeditated such carnage? And it has been proven by street cameras that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had premeditated the attack. He had hired and driven that lorry several times down the Promenade, even parking on the pavement a couple of days before that night. He had also obtained weapons and had loaded the lorry with iron bars to give it more weight. Certainly, there was an element of religious radicalization which had apparently only occurred a few months beforehand. He'd grown a beard, stopped eating pork and had started listening to jihadist propaganda chants.
People ask, like after any disaster, “Where is God in all of this?” And of course, God has nothing to do with it. Religious extremism is to blame. God has provided us with the gift of choice. As Christians we can choose to render our world to be a better place through His love. This man chose to listen to messages of hatred and revenge and to act upon them.
We pray at this time for all who died, all who lost loved ones and for those left with mental and physical scars; and also, for all who will never be able to see or hear firework displays again without reliving the horror of that night.
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