Horror begins... at ‘friendly’ game
From moment first bomber blew himself up to horrific denouement at concert hall, eight-page account of 100 minutes that stunned France
AT 8.17pm GMT on Friday night, a thunderous bang rose above raucous singing in the Stade de France on the northern fringes of Paris.
Believing it signalled the start of a fireworks display, football fans watching France play Germany in a friendly match simply cheered.
In fact, it was a bomber detonating explosives outside the stadium – and it signalled the start of a night of horror, setting in motion a series of monstrous acts that would eclipse by far the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January and, by the end of the night, render Paris numb with shock.
Although it is scarcely possible to conceive, it emerged last night that the attack on the French national stadium could have been catastrophically worse. Mercifully, it appears the bombers’ plan failed.
Police sources believe they were trying to trigger a panicked stampede by detonating a suicide vest inside the stadium and then bombing the fleeing fans – but were thwarted when one bomber failed to gain admittance to the arena.
At least one of them had a ticket to the game. He attempted to negotiate security 15 minutes after kick-off but was frisked by a security guard who, to his horror, realised he was wearing an explosives vest.
Attempting to back away from security, the attacker then blew himself up – killing a 63-yearold Portuguese man who lived and worked in Paris.
Three minutes later came another deafening boom from across the other side of the stadium. This time, it is thought the suicide bomber was a youth of just 15. But oblivious fans responded with more goodnatured cheers – only later would many of them learn the deadly truth.
A third suicide attacker detonated explosives – possibly grenades –at a nearby McDonald’s at 8.53pm, police said.
The game had kicked off at 8pm in front of 80,000 spectators, among them President Francois Hollande.
It had been a difficult week for the president, with problems with the economy and far-Right politicians stoking anti-immigrant sentiment, but he was eagerly looking forward to the match.
Soon after the first blast, Hollande was hastily evacuated and driven away to prepare his emotional address to the nation. The match was allowed to run its course.
But eight minutes after the first explosion at the Stade de France came the start of the carnage in the city centre.
Gunfire broke out in Rue Alibert, a vibrant area in the 10th arrondissement filled with hip bars and restaurants. At first, customers at Le Carillon bar – which had been hosting a ‘happy hour’ – thought a firecracker had gone off outside.
Within seconds, they realised a terrorist had opened fire with
a semi-automatic weapon. Having arrived by car, the man then strode across the road and turned his gun on the popular Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge. As he opened fire, sending diners diving to the floor, he shouted: ‘Allah Akbar’ – God is great, in Arabic.
In all, he murdered 15 people. Several more were wounded, some critically.
British TV producer Charlotte Brehaut, who was eating at the restaurant with a friend, managed to escape after bullets flew past their heads. She said: ‘I realised I was holding a woman’s arm next to me and when I suddenly started to process what was happening and was asking around if people were okay, I realised she had been fatally wounded.
‘She had been shot in the chest and there was blood all around her.’
A few streets away, 400 yards south of Le Petit Cambodge, Mark Colclough, 43, a British-Danish psychotherapist, was walking towards Rue de le Fontaine with a friend at about 8.20pm.
Ahead of them was the Café Bonne Biere, which stands opposite the Casa Nostra pizzeria.
Ten minutes later, at least five people, possibly many more, lay dead amid still-warm plates and coffee cups.
‘When the first boom went off, I thought it was firecrackers but within seconds I knew something was wrong,’ Mr Colclough said.
Then the gunman, left-handed and dressed ‘head to toe’ in black, loomed into view. He took aim at the Café Bonne Biere, as horrified Parisians ran for cover. ‘I saw him shoot three people with about four shots and then he changed position and walked forward a step and then fired I think two rounds into a car,’ said Mr Colclough.
‘Then he strode into the [Bonne Biere] café and pointed his gun right, then swivelled the gun left and opened fire. At first I thought it was an execution, a hit.
‘But then when he strode into the café, I knew it was an attack on civilians. When he walked into the café I knew we had to run.’
Next, the same gunman targeted the Casa Nostra pizzeria across the street. From here, he joined other gunman and moved a mile and a half south-east to the Roquette district, attacking venues seemingly at random.
At shortly before 8.40pm, TV cameraman Charlie Pitt, from Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, was walking