Sydney is trying to get back to normal and the shopping center where six people died in a knife attack by a 40-year-old man on Saturday reopened its doors today (18.04.2024) with residents visiting the labyrinthine complex with its still closed stores to pay tribute to the victims.
They will reopen tomorrow, Friday, returning to normal opening hours, almost a week after Joel Cauchi’s fatal attack at the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre. Today’s partial opening of the center was presented as an opportunity for Sydney residents to gather there and pay their respects to the victims.
This allows us to express our solidarity, our condolences and “turn the page on this very difficult time” for the city, NSW Chief Minister Chris Means said.
According to him, this is “a first step towards healing” the wounds.
Throughout the week, many people laid flowers in front of the mall, which is usually flooded with families flocking there to do their shopping.
The digital screens, which previously displayed advertisements and layouts to help customers navigate the labyrinthine mall, now show black ribbons of pixels on a plain white background.
In one of its rooms, wreaths of white flowers frame a message of remembrance for the victims, and a book of condolence has been placed on a simple white table for people to express their sorrow to their relatives.
Today the country’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government wants to grant Australian citizenship to a Pakistani mall security guard who was injured in the attack.
Asked in a radio interview whether the Australian government would consider a request to grant Australian citizenship to Muhammad Taha, Albanezi replied: “Yes, we will for sure.”
Taha previously said in an interview with The Australian newspaper that he believes he “deserves to be recognized and considered (to be given) citizenship” after his injury.
He also said that the attacker attacked him right after he attacked his Pakistani colleague Faraz Tahir, who was one of the six people who died in the attack.
The security guard added that Frenchman Damian Gueraud, “the man with the bollard”, as he is called by the media as he is seen in security camera footage using a bollard to push off the assailant, has been offered permanent residency in the country.
According to the newspaper, Taha’s graduate residence permit expires in less than a month.
Albanezi called the killing of Faraz Tahir a “tragedy” and hailed Taha’s courage to “stand up to this guy, the perpetrator of the attack, Joel Cauchi, on Saturday.” “He showed extraordinary courage,” he noted.
According to newsit, the two men defied danger to protect Australians they did not know, the Australian prime minister underlined.
“We want to say thank you, sincerely, for that courage,” he continued. Albanese announced that Gero will be granted the permanent resident status he requested today.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday praised Gueraud and his compatriot Silas Desprouts for their efforts to stop the attacker in the deadly mall attack.
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