This 4-meter high sculpture, signed by the Nice artist Jean-Marie Fondacaro, was placed at the very place where the truck driven by Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a Tunisian in his thirties living in Nice, had stopped his race this evening- the. At the foot of the wave, a heart-shaped calligram encompasses the names of the 86 missing persons, “angels”, mirroring the “Bay of Angels” which extends offshore.

“This story, the French carry it with you”, said to the victims the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti recalling how France had “been touched in the heart by Islamist barbarism”.

This work in polished aluminum was chosen from among fifteen projects submitted to a committee bringing together, under the aegis of the municipality, several associations of victims.

“We chose it unanimously. As soon as we saw it, we said to ourselves: this is the one,” Stéphane Erbs, co-president of the Promenade des angels.

“We had a lot of apprehension because we knew that in terms of emotion it would be very difficult but we finally breathe. Now, we can’t wait until there’s no one to go and gather in peace”, added this Isérois who was passing through this evening in 2016 and lost his wife in the attack.

On Twitter, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, who had appointed Mr. Dupond-Moretti to represent the government, wrote “to the victims, their loved ones, the survivors and the heroes who took all the risks to put an end to this barbaric attack, the Nation will never forget you”.

On July 14, 2016, around 30,000 people gathered on the Prom’ for the fireworks display. Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a 19-tonne truck into the crowd for two minutes before being shot dead by the police.

The trial of this attack, claimed by the Islamic State organization, will take place from September 5 before the special assize court in Paris. The main responsible having died, the magistrates will examine the responsibilities of eight other people, members of his entourage or intermediaries involved in the trafficking of weapons which were intended for him.

At least 865 people or associations have joined as civil parties.

“We respond to this barbarism with the law,” said the minister in Nice-Matin.