Hero Muslim employee who saved lives at Paris supermarket granted citizenship by France

 

24-year-old Lassana Bathily, the Mali-born Muslim employee (pictured above) that saved the lives of several shoppers at Kosher supermarket during the Paris attack that left 4 dead, has been granted French citizenship by France.

Lassana bravely guided terrified customers to safety in a supermarket chiller when terrorist Amedy Coulibaly burst into the supermarket and killed 4 people on January 9th. According to reports, Lassana was in the store's underground stockroom at the time, hid many customers in a freezer, then escaped and gave police valuable information about what was happening inside. 

As reward for such display of bravery, the French government granted him citizenship during a ceremony that held today, saying his 'act of humanity has become a symbol of an Islam of peace and tolerance.'

 

 Receiving his citizenship, tearful Lassana said 

'Tonight I'm very proud and deeply touched. I'm not a hero, I am Lassana. I'll stay true to myself. People are all equal to me and skin color isn't a matter. France is the country of human rights.' Speaking on how he managed to save the people that faithful day (pic below), he narrated."When they ran down, I opened the door [of the freezer]. There are several people who came to me. I turned off the light, I turned off the freezer. When I turned off the cold, I put them [hostages] in, I closed the door, I told them to stay calm.'

 

Lassana has lived in France since 2006.