Restauranteur Tommy Diacono was enjoying a meal in the heart of Paris last night when he heard multiple gunshots ring through the night as part of a series of terrorist attacks.
“We were in a bistro enjoying dinner and then there were gunshots very, very close to us. People started running towards us crying and screaming. Suddenly people started running in the other direction too,” he said, adding that it quickly became clear that this was not an ordinary shooting.
Mr Diacono, who owns the fast-food restaurant New York Best, was just a few metres away from the Bataclan concert hall where some 80 people were reported killed after gunmen burst into a hall and took hostages.
“We ended up stuck there as the area was sealed off by police,” he said.
Mr Diacono said that it was not long before squads of heavily armed officers sealed off the area.
We were bang in the middle of the attack on the rock concert and another attack a few streets away
Mr Diacono said diners in the restaurants were sat on the floor, crouching under their tables as dozens of police cars and armoured vehicles crammed the streets.
“We were bang in the middle of the attack on the rock concert and another attack a few streets away,” he said.
Mr Diacono managed to get back to his hotel despite police sealing off the area.
Asked what the atmosphere was like in the French capital today, Mr Diacono said everyone was staring at each other in disbelief.
“I’ve never seen Paris this quiet,” he said.
Another Maltese couple said they were in shock after witnessing terrorist explosions at the Stade de France and then finding havoc outside their hotel near the site of a second explosion last night.
Christa Grixti told Times of Malta she could barely believe her eyes when she left the stadium where France played Germany in a friendly football match last night.
Christa Grixti at the stadium before the terrorist attacks.“There wasn’t any evacuation from the stadium. We heard an explosion but thought it was the fans watching the match. We left at around the 80th minute to avoid the rush in the metro. Who would have known we were going to find police scattered around the area and people running scared,” Ms Grixti said.
She was on holiday with her boyfriend on what the couple thought was going to be a quiet getaway.
Ms Grixti said the Metro service had been suspended when the two left the stadium, and all the public announcements were made in French. They thought their ordeal was over when they got into a taxi which took them to their hotel. However, it turned out their accommodation was located just a few metres from a second attack in the heart of the French capital.
More than 100 people were also reported killed after gunmen burst into the concert hall and took hostages before security forces stormed the building.
Ms Grixti said her and her boyfriend were forced to find alternative accommodation in the middle of the night and did not even have their suitcases as police had cordoned off their hotel. She said she could barely sleep, but both were unharmed.
