French minister praises passengers in train attack

As for the suspected terrorist, he has been identified as a 26-year-old Moroccan national, and current resident of Spain, with links to several radical Islamic groups. He was airlifted to CHR hospital in Lille, France.

Christina Cathleen Coons, an American tourist, said she had been in carriage 12 when the shots rang out. His injuries were non-life-threatening.

“I thought there was going to be a shoot-out on the train”, she said.

“Thanks to the calm composure of the two American passengers, we have avoided a tragedy”. And if they were on liberty, it’s even more impressive. “Without their sangfroid we could have been confronted with a awful drama”, said Cazeneuve. He had at least nine full magazines of ammunition holding nearly 200 rounds, French media reported. “I condemn the terrorist attack on the Thalys and express my sympathy for the victims”, Michel wrote on Twitter. The train stopped and the emergency services are on site’.

Roughly 500 people were on the train at the time of the incident.

The motives behind the attack were not immediately known.

The U.S. Marines reportedly “detained” the terrorist suspect until the train, which was carrying approximately 550 passengers, arrived in the town of Arras in Northern France.

But a French police official said later that one man was American and the other British.

Officers from France’s special Anti-Crime Brigade police unit have arrested a man who fired a Kalashnikov rifle on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris.

He said it’s too early to know whether the attack was terror-related. The train was diverted to Arras, France, where the passengers disembarked. All four countries are part of the Schengen area through which people travel without the need for passports and security check-ins.

The minister urged caution over the likely nature of the attack, which he said was a matter for the prosecutor to investigate. He is known to French authorities and is believed to be an ISIS sympathizer.

An armed man opened fire on a high-speed train en route from Amsterdam to Paris, wounding three people, before he was subdued by passengers, led by two Americans.

Along with one of the marines, French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade sustained a light hand injury.

Another person lay restrained on the ground, he said, referring to the shooter.