Paris – Multiple shootings and three explosions around Paris this Friday caused the death of at least 150 people. The lack of tolerance and lots of blinding extremism literally mixed and resulted in AK-47 bullets, used to finish the life of innocent humans hearing some music on a friday night.

What seems to be a revenge coordinated terrorist attack, took place in different venues around the city. At least six shootings and two explosions have been reported.

paris-attacks
Je suis Charlie Hebdo Not Afraid Paris Protesting Terrorist Attack in January 2015. Credits: The Globe and Mail

One of the shootings took place in the Bataclan Theater, were people attended Eagles of Death Metal Band’s gig. Police reports said that at least 60 people have been killed, many dozens were wounded and around 100 were taken as hostages inside the concert hall. Mary Lou Dorio, mother of the drummer of the band, told The Post that her son and other band members were able to escape the Bataclan venue. However, several crew members could not escape from the building.

Another shooting took place in a restaurant in the 10th arrondissement, known as Le Carillon. A police officer said 11 people died at this location. Ben Grant was at the back of the bar with his wife at the moment of the attack. He said he could not see anything but he heard the gunshots. Grant declared over a phone interview that he and his wife put a table over their heads to protect themselves from the shooting. Eye witnesses said that the attackers were driving cars.

Two explosions were heard outside the Stade de France stadium, north of Paris, during a France-Germany friendly football match. French President, Francois Hollande was in the stadium at the moment of the explosions. He was promptly escorted out of the stadium and immediately held an emergency meeting.

Anna Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, urged citizens to stay home. In addition, some of Paris’s main Metro stations were closed, including the one at the Gare du Nord, one of the city’s principal train stations, as Ryan Webber from the Washington Post reported.

Despite the security measures taken by the City of Paris, hundreds of parisians walked down the Boulevard Magenta waving French flags with the intentions of going to the Stade de France stadium to show solidarity with the victims.

Map-Paris-Attacks
The location of the attacks. Credits: CNN/Mapbox

Hollande has declared, in a brief statement on television, a state of emergency across France.  All French boarders will be closed, The French president stated as the second measure.

President Obama said on a press conference that Paris attacks were not an attack just for Paris or France but ‘for all humanity’. The President of the United States added that they are ready to assist the government and the people of France.

Around midnight two Paris police officials said security forces have ended the attack inside the concert hall filled with hostages. At least two attackers have been killed and five other suspects have been ‘neutralized’, said the office of the District Attorney of Paris without specifying what does the ambiguous term really meant, as reported by CNN. Neither official could be named as more operations will be done over the city.

Meanwhile, neighbors from around the stadium and the restaurants are keeping safe in their homes the passersby who where watching a soccer game, enjoying some music, and luckily didn’t receive a gunshot in the back or in the head.

The fireworks perspective

A girl emigrating from Caracas, who was in the stadium at the time, recounted her particular experience during the attacks. People at the stadium heard the explosions during the game, however, no one got alarmed at first because they thought the noise came from fireworks, she explained to her friend through a voice note. Minutes later, facebook was notifying every one she knew that she was okey, and save.

It was only later that the news of a terrorist attack began spreading between the audience. They later found out a suicide bomber had attempted to enter the venue, but failed to bypass the security staff, just 10 doors away from them. Then, the bomb exploded near one of the main entrances.

When the game ended, the screens indicated that some of the stadium’s exits were closed and delivered instructions of where the available exits were placed, then everyone started leaving. The girl and her peers decided to wait on their sits. She describes that after a short while everyone came back running to the stadium, even getting on the field — she is unsure if it was due to another attack attempt at one of the exits. They continued to exist sitted there: scared, confused and baffled.

Other people familiar to her friends, who were in the enchanted city on this dark friday, are still recovering and calming down. Their aim is to start sharing their view and their experience and start to heal the wounds that allegedly the Islamic State has cause them.

Leaders from around the world joined after Obama to give their support to France with a position of solidarity. Vladimir Putin, James Cameron, Dilma Rousseff and others showed their astonishment and sadness.

In collaboration with Maria Jose Inojosa and Angelica Lozada.

Sources: CNN