Frustration grows as mourners gather in San Francisco to honor the lives lost in Nice, France

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - Bill Woolf and his wife Wendy Newman live half the year in San Francisco and the other in Nice, France. When news reached the United States of the deadly terrorist attack Thursday evening in Nice, Newman desperately tried to reach her neighbors half a world away.

"I was worried all night,” said Newman.

“I was on the phone, I was texting to make sure everyone was okay. Even if they are okay physically, they're really damaged emotionally."

Nearly ten thousand kilometers away, mourners in San Francisco came out to remember the dead and hundreds injured in Nice at a vigil Saturday afternoon in the Civic Center.

"We wanted to show we were thinking about everyone in the country,” said Parisian Antoine Drochon.

The vigil held a moment of silence for the 84 people killed when a man deliberately drove a refrigerator truck into the crowd watching fireworks along the Promenade des Anglais. French citizens in San Francisco said they were moved by the concern and comfort shown by Americans after the attack.

"Colleagues and friends, Americans, are asking me if everything is okay for us and for our families,” said Drochon.

“It feels kind of weird, but feels very warm and it's something I never felt before."

This is the third mass casualty terrorist attack in France in the past 18 months. For several French nationals in San Francisco, they’re also angry to be hosting another vigil.

"We don't want to have to do this gathering every 10 months,” said vigil organizer Erwan Leroy of Francophones à San Francisco.

“Way too high of a frequency. This is to show a strong solidarity to the victims, but we need to do something drastically different to stop these types of attacks."

Richie Greenberg said he spoke to his wife’s family in Paris on Friday.

"They're fed up with it. They're scared,” said Greenberg.

“It doesn't mean they're going to leave the country. How much more of it can you take?"

Thursday night’s horrific attack on civilians has also left many of Woolf and Newman’s French neighbors afraid to go to public spaces.

"Our running club was going to have a race there the day after the attacks and they couldn't get anyone to come out,” said Newman.

“People said 'No, can't do it."

The couple travels back to Nice in September and wonders if their city will be the same as when they left it.