Wednesday 18 November 2015, 4 am Saint-Denis is under siege. Helicopters across the sky, 110 armed men (Raid, BRI, CRS), a five-hour attack, more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition fired: this is the flood of fire that fell on the decaying building where police found France’s most wanted terrorist, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, organizer of the November 13, 2015 attack.
Ten years later, building C where he hid with his cousin, Hasna Aït Boulahcen, and his accomplice, Chakib Akrouh, a terrace shooter who blew himself up during the attack, is nothing more than a gaping hole. Despite having entered the annals of national tragedy, 48 rue de la République has been demolished for several weeks.
