Scenes of panic in false alarm in central Paris after attacks
“There’s a lot of confusion, panic, people are running”.
“There was crowd movement with apparently with no reason”.
“When we left the live cross point I went across the road to a hotel which a lot of people had been running into”.
The square slowly filled up again after the short scare. It turned out to be a false alarm.
There were reports of yells and screams in the crowd and a stampede to get out of the gathering.
“Over the course of about 10 or 15 minutes, although you can imagine it felt like hours, it was eventually established that it was a false alert”. All of the areas of mourning in Paris remain heavily guarded by police, but it only takes one troublemaker to wreak havoc on a peaceful scene.
Panic continued when police entered the memorial with their weapons drawn.
The crowd fled for stairwells and public vehicle parks.
However, a statement issued by Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility for the attack, said there were eight attackers.
“I said, “what happened, what happened”, and they said, “there’s a shooter out there”, but there wasnt'”.
“Today I had to go out, to be here with people”.
On Sunday evening the official death toll from the attack rose to 132 after three people died in hospital.
“Well, we have to realize we are at war”, he said. “It’s been very quiet the last couple of days”, she said.
The widow of David Haines, a British aid worker killed by Islamic State militants, says attacks in Paris and elsewhere show the world is no longer a safe place.