24-year-old Lassana Bathily, a Malian immigrant is set to become a citizen of France after he saved several lives during a terrorist attack on Friday, January 9.
He hid 15 people inside a freezer in a Kosher supermarket in Paris after armed gunman, Amedy Coulibaly had taken many others hostage in solidarity with the Charlie Hebdo attackers, Cherif and Said Kouachi. Bathily turned off the freezer and escaped to inform the police of what was going on in the store. Coulibaly killed 4 hostages before he was eventually gunned down by the police.
About 300,000 people signed an online petition for the practicing Muslim to be made a citizen and a confirmation was announced by the Interior Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve on Thursday, January 15. Bathily, who will be made a citizen on Tuesday, January 20, has been living in France since 2006 and applied for naturalization last year. When questioned about his act of heroism, he told BFM TV:
“I heard shots and I saw my colleagues and clients running down. I told them ‘Come, come,’ (and) got them into the freezer.”
“We’re brothers. It’s not a question of Jews, Christians or Muslims. We’re all in the same boat, and we have to help one another to get out of this crisis,” he added.
The Kouachis stormed the offices of satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo on January 7, killing 12 people and taking one hostage before they were eventually killed by police.
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