Tragedy Strikes in Paris

 

 

Photo provided by: L&C Flickr
Photo provided by: L&C Flickr
Matt Monroe
Webmaster

Tragedy struck the city of Paris, France on Nov. 13, as terrorists led a coordinated attack, killing 130 people, and injuring 352 to 368 more. The terrorist group, ISIS, claims to be responsible for the attacks.

A total of six locations were attacked, including restaurants on the rue Bichat, the rue Alibert, the rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi, the rue de Charonne, the boulevard Voltaire, the theatre Bataclan, and Stade de France.

Many of the lives taken during the attacks were at the French Bataclan theatre. That night, the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal were playing.

In the middle of their set, gunshots rang out, eventually killing 89 people of the approximate 1,500 at the venue before two of the attackers wearing suicide vests detonated their vests during a stand-off with police.

At Stade de France, during an international friendly football match between France and Germany, four people were killed, three of them being suicide bombers attempting to attack people in the stadium.

One of the suicide bombers attempted to enter the stadium before being turned away after a guard detected the explosives during a routine security check. The other two were planning on killing people leaving the stadium after the bomber entering the stadium would detonate his vest.

At the rue Bichat and the rue Alibert, 15 people were killed and 10 were critically injured in a series of shootings, according to Le Monde at the restaurants Le Carillon and Le Petit Cambodge. At the rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi, five were killed and eight were injured after shots were fired outside Café Bonne Bière.

At the rue de Charonne, 19 people were killed and nine were in critical condition after two gunmen fired shots at La Belle Équipe. At the boulevard Voltaire, 15 were injured after a man wearing a suicide vest sat down in the Comptoir Voltaire café, and blew himself up after ordering.

During and after the attacks, Parisians used the hashtag “#portesouvertes,” meaning “open doors,” offering shelter to those afraid to go home while the attacks were happening.

The French government has responded to the attacks by extending the current state of emergency by an additional three months, amending the current constitution by adding a law that dual citizens will be stripped of their French citizenship and forbidden from entering the country if they are a terrorism risk, and expanding Opération Chammal, its bombing campaign on ISIS/ISIL.

To help the victims and survivors of these attacks, consider donating to the French Red Cross at http://bit.ly/1HOtwSv.

mmmonroe@lc.edu

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