Photos showing the moments French President Francois Hollande on Friday and President George W. Bush on 9/11 learning of the massive terrorist attacks on their countries were eerily similar.
2001/2015.Deux images spectaculaires de présidents tendant l'oreille qui se ressemblent étrangement #ParisAttacks pic.twitter.com/7ZwiDUVUmP
— Arnaud Jamin (@arnaud_jamin) November 14, 2015
On September 11, 2001, President Bush was famously reading a book to a second grade class in Florida when his chief of staff Andrew Card whispered the news of the Al-Qaeda attack in his ear.
The image of Hollande learning the news while seated in the Stade de France stadium watching a friendly soccer match between France and Germany was strikingly reminiscent of the moment 14 years ago when Bush was told the U.S. was under attack.
The British newspaper The Sun reported that the image of Hollande was captured at 9:17 p.m. by cameras covering the sporting event.
Most of the spectators did not realize initially that the stadium, too, was one of the sites targeted by terrorists armed with AK-47s and suicide belts. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Friday’s coordinated attacks which killed 129 people at multiple locations including a rock concert and restaurants.
Hollande later called the attacks a “horror” and an event “of unprecedented proportions.”
“To all those who have seen these awful things, I want to say we are going to lead a war which will be pitiless,” Hollande said.
(H/T: The Sun)
Featured image credit: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images
