Death of missing Spaniard in Paris attacks confirmed
Saturday, November 14, 2015 @ 10:24 PM
DEPUTY president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría has confirmed the missing 29-year-old, Juan Alberto González Garrido is dead following the terrorist siege at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris last night (Friday).
The Granada-born man, who was living in Madrid, was at the venue with his wife watching the Californian hard-rock band Eagles of Death Metal when ISIS members took all those present hostage and opened fire with Kalashnikovs.
At least 82 of the 128 dead were in the concert hall at the time, and videos show terrified spectators fleeing via a side door, stepping over bodies as they ran screaming down the street.
Initially, Spain's ministers of foreign affairs and the interior, José Manuel García-Margallo and Jorge Fernández Díaz respectively insisted there were no Spaniards among the dead and that Juan Alberto's name was not among those confirmed to have lost their lives.
Juan Alberto's sister told the channel three, or Antena 3 show Espejo Público ('public mirror') that she was aware her brother had been injured.
She and their cousin Alberto Garrido launched a Facebook campaign hours ago for information.
But the Spanish embassy has now confirmed Juan Alberto is indeed among the fatal victims – the only known Spaniard to have died so far, although a Portuguese national and two Belgians are also said to be dead.
A further 237 are injured, most of them seriously and the majority in a critical condition.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com