Polish man dies after Strasbourg attack
December 16, 2018
A Polish man who was critically wounded during a terror attack at a Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg died from his injuries on Sunday. Barto Orent-Niedzielski was the fifth fatality from last week's mass shooting.
"My brother Barto Pedro Orent-Niedzielski has just passed away. He thanks you for the love and strength you have given him," the brother of the 36-year-old Polish-born victim wrote on Facebook.
Orent-Niedzielski and his Italian friend Antonio Megalizzi had blocked the attacker from entering a concert venue during Tuesday's assault. When they saw the attacker, they reportedly rushed to stop him.
Megalizzi, 28, died from his injuries on Friday.
Hundreds gather to remember victims
Orent-Niedzielski and Megalizzi have been credited with preventing a massacre on the scale of the 2015 Paris attack when 90 people lost their lives at the Bataclan.
Orent-Niedzielski worked as a guide at the European Parliament and also hosted tours around the city, according to Polish news portal wyborcza.pl. He reportedly worked as a local journalist, danced in a band, sang in a choir and organized the Festival of Comics.
Hundreds of people gathered in Strasbourg's Kleber Square on Sunday to commemorate the victims of the attack.
France has suffered numerous terror attacks in recent years. In the worst such event, a total of 130 people were killed on November 13, 2015, when several groups of gunmen and suicide bombers attacked various locations throughout Paris, including the Bataclan, the perimeter of the Stade de France stadium and a series of cafes.
kw/rc (AFP, dpa, Reuters)