Fifth Strasbourg terror victim dies as city holds emotional memorial

People light-up candles and deposit flowers during a gathering around a makeshift memorial 
People light-up candles and deposit flowers during a gathering around a makeshift memorial  Credit: SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty Images

A fifth person has died as a result of Tuesday's terror attack in Strasbourg. The victim, 35-year-old Barto Pedro Orent-Niedzielski, died after five days in a coma.

"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.

Cherif Chekatt, who was on a French list of possible extremist security risks, attacked a Christmas market in Strasbourg on Tuesday night, and was shot dead by police on Thursday. 

It came after residents of the eastern French city of Strasbourg filled a city square Sunday for a memorial to the people shot dead and the dozen wounded by a gunman at their Christmas market.

The hour-long ceremony took place in Kleber Square by the city's Christmas market, near where the gunman opened fire on Tuesday evening.

According to the local newspaper DNA, more than 1,000 people attended the memorial, which ended with a minute of applause and a rendition of France's national anthem, "La Marseillaise."

Roland Ries, the mayor of Strasbourg, praised the city's resilience in the face of hardship.

"The presence on Saturday of an extremely large crowd in the Christmas market was an illustration of our commitment to these values on which our living together is based, which we will continue to defend against all those who want to attack it," Mr Ries said.

After the attack, French authorities launched a massive manhunt that ended Thursday night when the main suspect, Strasbourg-born Cherif Chekatt, 29, was killed in a shootout with police in the city neighborhood where he grew up.

French authorities are still investigating the attack.

The Paris prosecutor's office said two people close to the attacker were released on Sunday "in the absence of incriminating elements at this stage."

Only one person of the seven detained after the attack was still being held. Chekatt's parents and two of his brothers, who had been held by police for questioning for several days, were released on Saturday.