On Friday, November 13, Paris didn’t sleep. It witnessed one of it’s worst terror attacks, which killed 129 innocent lives and injured 352 people. Three teams of Jihadis attacked the Stade de France football stadium, some bars and cafes and the concert hall where 89 people were gunned down.
The ones who managed to escape share their heart-warming stories of fear and grief.
Mariesha Payne and Christine Tudhope are two such women who survived the attacks after hiding in a cellar for three hours. The two best friends from Scotland initially thought the gunfire were fire crackers, but soon after they realised it was an attack and they wanted to get out of there, but instead ran towards an enclosed room from which there was no way out.
They described how they could hear the attackers gunning down people and talking to each other in French. The mother of two, Payne says, she was so fearful that she thought she would never see her children again. But the besties managed to survive and couldn’t be more thankful. Being trapped in the cellar was actually a blessing for them.
30-year-old Michael O Connor also has a horrifying story. Connor desperately tried to save his girlfriend from the attack and deliberately lay on top of her while the massacre took speed.
21-year-olds Hanna Corbett and Jack Konda who were watching the show by rock group Eagles of Death Metal describe how they had to drop to the floor and crawl on their hands and knees to keep themselves safe while armed militants went on a rampage with their weapons.
Journalist Julien Pearce who was present at the scene describes it as a total chaos. He witnessed the attackers entering the concert hall and firing randomly at the crowd while people cried and yelled for help. The 10-minute ordeal has left Julien shaken.
Marc Coupris a 57-year-old legal worker described it as a carnage. “It looked like a battlefield with blood everywhere and dead bodies all around,” he told a leading daily. Some survivors had to play dead while others ran for their life.
While Parisians are still recovering from this crisis, the world stands united in their support. Prayers are being said for all those who have lost their lives. The US President, Barack Obama, also ordered flags to be at half-mast, as a mark of respect for the victims, while some community leaders attended a peace vigil in Birmingham for the deceased of the attack. Our prayers are with the victims and their families too.
Images via Dailymail.co.uk
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