1. DAILYMIRROR MONDAY 16.11.20158 DM1ST
past the people who didn’t make it, it
brought it all home. We can’t let them
win. They don’t represent anything,
they’re not Muslims, they’re animals.”
A police officer who was one of the
firstintotheBataclan,spokeofhisshock
at what confronted him. He said: “Two
thingsimmediatelyhitme.Thefirstwas
just how young the victims were.
“Thesecondwasthesoundofmobile
phonesringing–itwassilentapartfrom
that. The mobiles were ringing in the
eerie, you could hear the amp in the
background. I thought, ‘We actually
mightsurvivethis’.Theycameinbehind
bigshields,motioningforustostaystill.
“Theyformedaperimeterattheback
of the hall and pointed their guns up to
where the terrorists still were.
“There was an exchange of gunfire. I
could hear muffled shouting. Then
silence. I have never felt so happy in my
life. We ran out as quickly as we could.
“When I got out it hit me. Walking
so I guess I thought, ‘They are going to
shoot us’ so I told my girlfriend I loved
her. I expected to die and I waited.”
But Sara remained defiant. Michael
added:“Shesaidtome,‘Wearenotgoing
to die here’, she was really strong.”
Michael also told of the moment he
finallyknewtheyweresafe,whenarmed
police went in. He said: “I could see the
doorbehindus,itslowlyopened.Ididn’t
know what was coming through.
“I saw torches and flashlights. It was
desperately “clawing and running and
pushing to get away”. He said: “There
were people climbing all over me and I
thought if they fired again we’d get hit
so I pulled my girlfriend under me and
lay on top of her. Many people were
wounded all around us, but there were
also people who were obviously dead.
“I thought I was going to die. They
were firing from the balcony above us
attack on freedom: HORROR AT BATACLAN CONCERT HALL
By RUSSELL MYERS inParis
and JEREMY ARMSTRONG
survivors
tributes
escape
A HERO Brit shielded his ­girlfriend
and played dead for more than an
hour as jihadi terrorists sprayed
victims with bullets in the bloody
Paris theatre massacre.
MichaelO’Connor,30,saidhethought
he was going to die in the carnage at
the Bataclan concert hall, which left
at least 89 revellers dead.
In horrifying detail he told how he
watched two Islamic State terrorists
entering the theatre as a band played,
beforeturningitintoa“slaughterhouse”.
Thegunmen–oneshouting“ifweare
here it is because of your President
Francois Hollande” – ordered everyone
toliedownbeforeshootingwithAK-47s,
calmlyemptyingtheirmagazinesbefore
reloading and firing all over again.
Michael whispered to his French
­girlfriend Sara Badel Craeye “I love you”
and waited to die. They survived but
endured haunting scenes.
Hesaid:“Itlookedlikeanabattoir,the
bloodwasacentimetredeepinplaces.
I waded through blood, climbing
over dead bodies to get out.”
Michael, of South Shields,
South Tyneside, and Sara
were among a young crowd
watching the Eagles of
DeathMetalattheBataclan
when the hell began.
He said: “Two young
peoplecamefromtheback.
They started to open fire
withwhatlookedlikeAK-47s.
There was one who I could
see, I got a look at his face.
“Onelookedyoung,butitwas
a blur really. I grabbed my girl-
friendandpulledherdowntoprotect
her.Wetriedtomaketheexit,butthere
was a crush and you could not get out.
They fired, people fell all over the place.
They were running, pushing to get out,
the place was full, it was a sell-out.
“People dropped on to the ground
around me, screaming and shouting,
Thegunmenfiredindiscriminatelyinto
the crowds and once the place emptied
a bit everyone got back up and tried
to make a dash for the exits but they
reloaded and started to fire again.”
Michael spotted an exit by the stage
but he could not get past the people
Twoyoungpeoplecamefrom
thebackandfiredak-47s...
peoplewerefallingallover
theplace.Ithrewmyselfover
mygirlfriend.Theyfiredas
peopleran,thenreloaded
andstartedtoshootagain—Britwhoplayeddeadamidcarnage
I expected to die,
it looked like
an abattoir... I
had to climb over
dead bodies
brave michael o’connor tells
ofhorrorscenesatthebataclan
Mariesha and Christine land yesterday
Crowds outside the Bataclan yesterday
Pregnant woman clings on to
window ledge with bodies below
DM1ST
MONDAY 16.11.2015 DAILYMIRROR 9mirror.co.uk
ered in the Place de la Republique, less
than half a mile from the scene, to sing
the national anthem and chant “we
stand in solidarity with each other”.
russell.myers@mirror.co.uk
out and we were trapped for the next
three hours.” They were rescued by
special forces and flew back into Edin-
burgh airport yesterday.
JournalistDanielPsennyfilmedpeople
running for their lives and a pregnant
women hanging from a second floor
window in a bid to escape. He tried to
helptheinjuredbutwasshotinthearm.
Asthecountrymournedthe129dead,
emotional crowds left flowers outside
the Bataclan in tribute. Hundreds gath-
of Perth, Scotland, managed to make it
to a cellar and hid for three hours,
listening to shots, blasts and screams.
Mariesha recalled: “Most people
ducked, but I said, ‘Run, just get out of
here’. There were no exits but we found
a door to the cellar, which we just ran
into but then realised we were trapped.
“Thedoorburstopenandwethought,
‘They’re coming, we’re going to die’. It
was two concertgoers, we managed to
barricade ourselves in, turn the lights
scrambles to the back of the stage.
Moments later dozens were gunned
down.Inanothervideogunfireringsout
as a jihadi shoots from the window as
several injured try to run away. Bodies
are seen in an alley and a woman wails.
Survivorssaidtheythoughtgunshots
were firecrackers as part of the show,
before realising they were under attack.
Christine Tudhope and Mariesha
Payne ran for cover after seeing bullets
hitthestageinfrontofthem.Thefriends,
pockets of those who died. There were
many of them. It was a terrible sound.”
The accounts came as footage
emergedofthemomentthejihadis–the
two Michael saw and at least one other
– burst into the Bataclan. Omar Ismael
Mostefai, 29, of Chartres, was identified
asoneoftwoterroristswhoblewthem-
selves up. A third was shot dead.
In one recording shots are heard and
the music stops, with the drummer
duckingbehindhiskitwhiletheguitarist
attack on freedom: HORROR AT BATACLAN CONCERT HALL
Wounded‘worse
thaninwarzone’
A DOCTOR who treated dozens of
wounded from the Paris attacks said
their injuries were worse than he saw
when working in a war zone.
Prof Philippe Juvin, of the Georges
Pompidou hospital, said 50 people,
including Brits, were brought in. He
added: “People were shot in the arms,
legs, the thorax and chest. You cannot
imagine the psychological trauma.
“Patients were silent. They were in
shock from what they witnessed.”
Nineseizedover
Beirutbombings
LEBANESE security forces have
arrested nine people – seven of them
Syrian nationals – over the bombings
in Beirut that killed 44 last week.
Islamic State claimed responsibility
for the attacks in a busy residential
and commercial area on Thursday.
Interior minister Nuhad Mashnuq
said: “The detained are seven Syrians
and two Lebanese, one of them a
(would-be) suicide bomber, the other
a trafficker who smuggled them in.”
POLICE STORM INfirst shots
HERO
Terrified public flee as armed officers make moveDrummer takes cover behind his kit
Michael and his
girlfriend Sara,
below, he slams
terrorists online
bloodbath Bodies
inside the Bataclan
after the shootings.
We have pixellated
the shocking image
ONLY DIPLOMACY WILL WORK: pages 1011
reporting team: Andy Lines, Chief
Reporter; Russell Myers; Matthew Drake in
Paris; Dan Warburton in Brussels; Jack
Blanchard in Belek, Turkey; Chris Hughes,
Defence Security Editor; Martin Bagot;
Jeremy Armstrong; Johann Rauch.
PHOTOGRAPHERS: John Alevroyiannis,
John Gladwin and Phil Harris in Paris.