Teacher’s friends caught up in Paris massacre

Frederique Murgia

A FRENCH woman whose friends were at the Bataclan theatre in Paris last Friday was touched by the solidarity shown by people in Oldham.

Fortunately, Frederique Murgia’s five friends were found to be safe, as was her mother, Dominique, who also lives in Paris.

Concert-goers were trapped at the theatre on Friday evening before police stormed the building, shooting one gunman dead.

Around 89 music fans were killed and more than 100 injured when gunmen fired into the crowd.

Frederique, who teaches French, came over to the UK in 2005, after she decided it was no longer safe to live in France.

She has lived in Oldham since 2013. She attended the vigil at Oldham Parish Church on Monday evening, when members of various communities came together to pay respect to the people murdered by terrorists.

Frederique (46), who is also secretary of the OL1-Oldham community group in the town centre, said: “The vigil was emotional for me — I was nearly crying. It was very touching.”

The tragic events in Paris last week brought back traumatic memories for Frederique.

In September, 2001, just weeks after the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, the AZF chemical factory in Toulouse exploded.

The blast was initially thought to be a terrorist attack but an official inquiry found it to be accidental.

Frederique was working at the university near by and suffered minor injuries.

In February, 2004, Frederique was on board a train when a terrorist group placed a bomb on the tracks. Passengers were unhurt and did not know the reason for their delay on the train until after the incident.

She said: “I didn’t stop living but I’m vigilant. I think of it because I have been there. I’ve lived it. It is scary.

“After Toulouse, I decided I didn’t want to live there anymore. It was too hard. I can’t go back there anymore.”

Her mother, Dominique, knew the cartoonists at the Charlie Hebdo magazine. When terrorists targeted the magazine office in January this year, murdering 12 people, she was personally affected.

“The mood in Paris right now is awful,” said Frederique, who is travelling to northern France next week to visit her family.

“It’s like Charlie Hebdo again. We’re so angry we can’t do anything.

“What can we do, how can you stop people doing something like that? It’s very sad.”

email: iramramzan@oldham-chronicle.co.uk