French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and senior figures of the French government are attending the funerals in southern France for the four victims of last week's extremist gun rampage. The ceremonies are taking place Thursday in the quiet Aude region that was the site of a deadly carjacking, gun spree and supermarket hostage-taking. Philippe spoke to family of the victims and local residents in Trebes as the funeral convoys of Herve Sosna, Christian Medves and Jean Mazieres arrived _ and their coffins were put on display in a large square. A private religious ceremony took place afterward for slain gendarme Arnaud Beltrame in nearby Carcassonne, and it will be followed by a burial later in the cemetery of Ferrals-les-Corbieres. On Wednesday, France held a national homage to Beltrame, a colonel, who was given a posthumous Legion of Honor for his heroism in swapping himself for a hostage and potentially preventing further killings.
