Mourners remember Liege victims

THOUSANDS of people stood with heads bowed in cold and windy weather at a silent ceremony to remember victims of the grenade and rifle attack that left five dead in one of Belgium’s biggest cities.

Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo and Crown Prince Philippe stood with the Liege mayor in a solemn ceremony on the same city centre cobblestones that were stained with blood in the attack a week ago.

Investigators are looking for clues as to why Nordine Amrani, a 33-year-old with a criminal record, swept into the central square in the middle of the Christmas shopping season to unleash the rampage that killed four people and wounded 123 others. He took his own life immediately afterwards.

Instead of speeches, a lone trumpet pierced the silence of the half-hour ceremony.

Officials carried white roses and added them to a wall of mementos that has grown as Liege residents expressed their grief. The market was closed in remembrance of the victims.

“When I heard and saw this, I was really touched by this tragedy and it is to give homage that I am here,” said Maxim Lonhienne, a resident of the city of 200,000.

As the ceremony ended, subdued applause rippled across the square as Philippe and Princess Mathilde left.

Before the massacre, Amrani also shot a housekeeper dead at a shed he owned.

“We are trying to find out who this person really is and how someone who did not give any sign of mental difficulties could have acted in such a way,” said Liege prosecutor Cedric Visart de Bocarme.

Amrani, who had spent time in prison for offences involving guns and drugs, had been called in for questioning in a sexual abuse case on the day of the shooting. Instead of meeting with investigators, he took a backpack filled with ammunition and grenades to the square.