The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
‘I fled killers’ storm of bullets as people fell all around me’
Fan caught up in deadly Paris attack
A MUSIC fan caught up in the most deadly of the Paris terror attacks has described the terrifying moment he fled from the gunmen as they sent bullets flying around a packed concert hall.
Allan Mackenzie stumbled over a wounded man as he raced out of the Bataclan covered in blood.
The 29-year-old and a friend had travelled to Paris especially to see the Eagles of Death Metal play.
But just 45 minutes into the show, gunmen stormed inside and began shooting – killing at least 89 rock fans in the worst of the six attacks that hit the French capital on Friday.
Fort William man Callum Macdonald was also caught up in the attack, and remained in hospital last night.
It is believed the fatherof-one was found unconscious outside the venue with a head injury.
Last night, it emerged Iraqi intelligence officials had warned France of an imminent assault by Islamic State on the very day the country was targeted.
And as police issued a wanted notice for one of the men wanted for the killings after a suspected getaway car was found abandoned in the city, Mr Mackenzie described the “chaos” that unfolded as the gunmen stormed the Bataclan theatre.
Mr Mackenzie said the crowd first realised something was wrong when the lights went up and the band stopped playing.
The Aberdeen- born lawyer said: “We were down quite close to the front in the crowd when we thought we heard some fireworks, or firecrackers going off, and then the main lights came on and the band stopped playing.
“And then there was just such confusion, nobody knew what was going on, then everybody realised what was happening and hit the floor.
“The gunmen came in from the back. I lost my friend pretty quickly in the total chaos, me and a few other folk were lying on the ground as they sprayed bul-lets into the crowds of people. “A guy got shot just next to me, I got his blood all over me. We were all lying down next to each other, so we couldn't move. I was covering my head, and this other guy's head that was next to me.
“At metal gigs, everyone looks out for each other.”
Armed with automatic rifles, the three gunmen methodically moved through the
tightly-packed audi ence, spraying bullets everywhere. It is understood that wheelchair users, who were positioned in the disabled area of the concert hall, were targeted one at a time by the terrorists.
Despite the fire exits being covered by hails of gunfire from the attackers, Mr Mackenzie, who now lives in Oslo, saw the opportunity to make a break for it as his best chance for survival.
The former Inverurie Academy pupil, who studied at the Robert Gordon
“This boy next to me got shot, and fell . . . I almost tripped over him”
University, said: “We were extremely fortunate to be quite close to the exit, itwas like a fire exit, just tothe left of the stage.
“I thought I just had to get up. There were a lot of people that just stayed on the floor, but I decided just to go for it and make an escape.
“They were targeting the exit as well, so while I was running this boy next tome got shot, and fell down the stairs and I almost tripped over him – it was just carnage. "
Miraculously, Mr Mackenzie avoided the storm of bullets and emerged unscathed into the cold Parisian air outside the Bataclan.
“There were people dragging their friends out who had been shot,” he said. “People were bleeding on the street. People were crying, running away, and there were people asking what was happening, itwas very chaotic.
“I just ran with some other French people, we jogged for like half a kilometre.
“I called and called, and eventually got through to my friend – it was utter relief just to hear his voice and know that he was OK as well.”
A total of 89 people are known to have died in the concert hall.
The three gunmen spent just under three hours inside, but their reign of terror came to an end when anti- terrorist police stormed the building. One of the attackers was shot dead by police, and the other two blew them-
selves up with suicide devices.
Mr Mackenzie said that although a great sense of fear had swept across the city, there is already an atmosphere of normality slowly returning to Paris streets.
Speaking last night before his plane journey home to Oslo, he said: “People are getting on with their lives, you can see people sitting in the cafes having wine and cigarettes again.
“We met a lot of people yesterday who had lost friends and stuff, it's been a mixture of people feeling very sad, and trying to go about their daily lives. We were meant to be going to see Deftones in the same venue on Saturday night.
“It was my mate’s birthday on Saturday too, so we thought we're not going to let this deter us.
“So we carried on like we planned and went to the pub, and tried our best to celebrate life.”
The testimony of Allan Mackenzie is as jaw-dropping as it is terrifying. It strikes at the heart of everything we all have buried deep inside us: the intrinsic need for survival. Allan was one of the lucky ones. Aman who left his Oslo home and travelled to see his favourite band in Paris and found himself caught up in one of history’s most deadly and dreadful new chapters – the slaughter of so many innocents.
While others were being cut down around him, he managed tomake a charge for the door as bullets flew around. Covered in other people’s blood, he got through the exit despite terrorists targeting those seeking freedom.
Many people, like Allan, know that they were lucky. They are not of the 129, including Britons, who will never go home to their families, will never see their loved ones again. They are not of the 99 who remain in a critical condition.
And Allan’s attitude – we must get on and try our best to celebrate life – is why Daesh will never win.
This is clearly a new era in our history, amoment as telling as 9/11 and one that will put many of us on tenterhooks when we travel to London, Paris orany other big city, or even when we see someone acting suspiciously closer to home. But we all know that stopping what we are doing, not travelling on holiday, hiding away from big cities is exactly what the cowardly people behind the suicide bombers want us to do.
But we, like Allan, will not be cowed. Life must go on. And we must all stand in solidarity with our friends from across the water, the people with whom we have some of our strongest historical bonds.
It is telling that people in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and beyond stood shoulder to shoulder with our French friends to show that we are with them and will not ignore their plight.
Paris remains nervous and scared. President François Hollande has declared that his nation is at war with Islamic State, those who have claimed responsibility for this latest atrocity.
Our own columnist, former first minister Alex Salmond, has said that to do somay be the wrong way to approach this group of bloodthirsty monsters whose sole aim seems to be to drive the modern world back into the mists of mediaeval history. They will not be happy unless the world and the fate of man is ordained by almost antediluvian rules and lifestyles.
But to give them the legitimacy of a nation state is wrong and exactly what they want. They are a ragtag bag of ne’er do wells and misfits, petty criminals and monstrous thugs who have found a common cause and bond thanks to clever people who know how to play to the psyche of sick, lost youngsters needing a focus and cause, enabling the leaders to have their bidding done without, tellingly, putting themselves in harm’s way.
France is wounded and hurting and, entirely understandably, wants to come out fighting and remove the head of the snake. These are troubling times, but it is clear through the words of Allan and others that Daesh will not succeed, no matter how many times they strike.
We are a civilised world and we stand together and will prevail.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité.
“This is clearly a new era in our history, a moment as telling as 9/11”