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Rabat – The six victims of Sunday’s attack included a professor, two Guinean nationals, an IT analyst, and a Tunisian father.
In the aftermath of the gruesome attack on a Quebec mosque, the Quebec coroner’s office has identified the six victims of Sunday evening’s shooting. All six worshippers were devoted fathers and immigrants who had moved to Canada to seek a better life for themselves and their families.
Khaled Belkacemi, 60
Father of two, Mr. Belkacemi was a professor and researcher at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at Laval University. The Algerian national possessed two PHDs in chemical engineering. He was a member of the Center for Green Chemistry and Catalysis, and the Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF).
In a moving and poignant tribute to his late father, Belkacemi’s son, Amir wrote on a Facebook post: “My father, a righteous and good man, an example of resilience, a man loved by all, a professor and a distinguished scholar, a fighter, left his country to give his family a chance to live away from horror; alas, fate has caught up with us.”
Azzedine Soufiane, 57
Moroccan-born father of three, Soufiane was the owner of a halal shop in the suburb of Sainte-Foy and is described as an important member of the local Muslim community. He is described as having been a very pious man. He had a master’s degree in geology from the Laval University
His best friend, Rachid Ben Amor, described the deceased as a man with a permanent and contagious smile.
Aboubaker Thabti, 44
Father of two children, 3 and 11 years old, Thabti was born in Tunisia and moved to Canada only about a year ago. Mohamed Yangui, President of the Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec, said that he had spoken with him shortly before Sunday’s attack: “He wanted to buy a house for his family”.
Abdelkrim Hassane, 41
Father of three little girls aged 8 and 10, and a 15 month old toddler, the Algerian national was an IT analyst for the Quebec government.
His wife, Louiza Mohamed Said, was at a loss for words in the aftermath of the attack: “This is unfair! No one has the right to take a father from his children like this. What am I supposed to tell my daughters who will never see their dad again?”
Hassane was described as an overprotective dad who did everything for his little girls.
Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42, and Ibrahima Barry, 39
The two Guinean brothers lived in the same building in the Perade suburb of Sainte-Foy, where neighbors came all day long yesterday to offer sympathy and condolences to the families.
Mamadou Tanou was a father of two and was reportedly sending money home to Guinea. Tanou had lost his father three years ago, so it became his responsibility to support not only his family here but also his family in Africa.
Ibrahima worked for the province’s health-insurance agency and had four children.
International Outrage
Vigils in honor of the victims were held all over Canada yesterday. In Montreal, Quebec, to Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver and Whitehorse people took to the streets to pay tribute to the victims and express their outrage at the attack.
The wave of shock following the attack even reached far away Hong Kong, where a gathering was held in Tamar.
