Yahoo News Brittany fishing port of Concarneau in shock after double terror drama
A fishing port in a small corner of Brittany, western France, served as a stark reminder on Thursday that Islamist terror can wreak pain and indiscriminate suffering on the most sheltered of communities - and has done so here twice in two years.
The French school devastated by he Westminster Bridge attack had already lost a former pupil in the Bataclan terrorist massacre in Paris, it emerged.
The same school had been plunged into mourning in November 2015 when a former pupil, Estelle Rouat, was among 89 gunned down by an Isil terror commando in the Bataclan theatre in Paris.
At a glance | The Paris attacks
Ms Rouat, 25, an English teacher, had worked in Colchester, Essex, before moving to Paris, where she died from bullet wounds. Her boyfriend, Remi, was seriously injured by her side.
A crowd of 3,000 took part in a march through Concarneau's streets to commemorate her death, while a remembrance plaque hangs on one of the high school walls.
In this case, tragedy was narrowly averted for the three French pupils, but the parents of one, Thomas, spent a frantic hour convinced their son was dead.
Plusieurs centaines de personnes à #Concarneau pour rendre hommage à Estelle Rouat, tuée au #Bataclanpic.twitter.com/aYHEe6gBYb
— Bleu Breizh Izel (@Francebleubzh) 22 November 2015
He, alongside classmates Victor and Yann, were all mowed down by the London killer's car. The three were being treated for multiple injuries in London - with two in a serious, if stable, condition.
Speaking from her son Thomas' London hospital bed, his mother said. "It was the school who told us yesterday afternoon that the attack had taken place and our son was one of the victims.
"At that time, we had no idea about his health. My husband and I thought he had died. After an hour, we were told he was injured. It felt extremely long," she told Le Télégramme, the local newspaper.
Friday 13th Paris attacks: how events unfolded
They discovered he had broken legs, a head wound and major bruising behind the lungs. Then they were whisked in a military jet to London with the parents of the other two injured pupils.
"Thomas was very relieved to see us," she said. He had no memory of what happened and they had to explain to him "the attack, the runaway car on the bridge".
The town's double terror drama clearly weighed on the mayor André Fidelin, who said: "It's terrible because a psychosis risks setting in as the school has already been hit."
"Terror attacks can strike at anytime, anywhere. And they can strike our closest ones and all those we hold dear."
The three boys were among a group of 92 students from a "European" section of the school on a week long trip to London that began on Saturday morning.
Around half of these had just been visiting the area around parliament when a car came careering down Westminster bridge directly towards them.
"We saw the car hit the group. Twenty seconds later and it would have been us," said Kilian, one of the lycée pupils on the trip, in a text message to his mum.
"It struck three boys. We all had the reflex to jump back," said Johan, a classmate.
"After the guy got out of his car and started running towards parliament. We heard two shots fired. I saw people on the ground, lying down. They'd been stabbed I think," he said.
A psychological counseling unit had been set up at the lycée, where an ambulance was parked in the playground. Pupils outside said they had managed to get through to friends in London.
Enzo, 16, is in the same class as the three injured boys. "I just got back from a separate class trip to New York and found out this morning. It was a terrible shock.
"I managed to communicate with my three friends from their hospital beds. They said they had multiple fractures, in the legs, and one in the neck. They are in a lot a pain but the fact they could talk to me was reassuring," he told The Telegraph.
"We're all in shock," said Chloe, 16, whose friend had spent over an hour with counsellors talking over it.
"Solidarity with the British following the attack in #London. Support to the families of the wounded schoolchildren from Concarneau" https://t.co/DxpIWbp2K9
— France Diplomacy���� (@francediplo_EN) 22 March 2017
Another said: "We managed to phone a few pupils. They were all crying. They said that luckily the car had been stopped by bollards otherwise the number of wounded would have been much higher," he added.
The mother of one schoolgirl on the trip called Morgane, said she and come to the school for information. "My daughter was on the bridge. She saw everything, she saw her wounded friends, she saw the terrorist get out of his car."
"She above all talked to me about her classmates who were injured, that's what shocked her the most," she said.
Some 56 were debriefed by police at the hotel Marriott Westminster before flying home in two French military planes. They were flown home by military plane on Thursday evening, where their parents were waiting to collect them under heavy police guard at a nearby sister school.
Incredibly, these were not the only Breton schoolchildren caught up in attack. A group of 30 sixth-form students from Charles de Gaulle high school in Vannes were stuck for an hour atop the London Eye.
"They were the other side of the Thames but from their vantage point could see the attack scene and the ambulances. In a matter of minutes, they too could have been over there. We were lucky," said Dominique Betrand, headmaster at the school.
Defiant, they decided to continue their school trip as planned.
France on Thursday opened an inquiry into flagrant attempted murder due to the French victims involved. It is being handled by domestic security, DGSI, and the French anti-terror body SDAT.
Earlier, the French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault met with the teenage victims and their families in London.
Speaking just yards from Westminster Bridge, Mr Ayrault said he wanted to send "a message of friendship and strength" to Britain.
Westminster terror attack shooting in pictures
"We will not forget the solidarity the British people demonstrated when we were suffering (from previous terror attacks)," he said.
It was, he added, "a new tragedy" and "a direct attack on the heart of democracy, the oldest Parliament in the world, Westminster".
By his side, Europe Minister Sir Alan Duncan, said: "We stand shoulder to shoulder and nothing will change the normality of life and our belief in democracy and freedom."
Bernard Cazeneuve, the French prime minister, on Thursday warned that the terror threat in France remained "extremely high", which "justifies maintaining a state of emergency" - giving France sweeping powers to search and detain suspects.
President François Hollande indicated this week that the measure would remain in place until July, when his successor will decide whether to further prolong it.
France has foiled five terror plots since the start of the year, said Mr Cazeneuve.
How the Westminster attack unfolded
