Nottingham third years survive massacre in Paris theatre

‘I thought it was the end’


Two Nottingham third years escaped gunmen in a Paris concert hall by crawling over bodies to the exit, in an attack that claimed the lives of over 80 innocent people.

Hanna Corbett and Jack Konda dropped to the floor in the Bataclan venue after terrorists stormed in and opened fire during a performance of Eagles of Death Metal.

History student Hanna was forced to crawl to safety

The pair admitted to feeling “lucky to be alive” as ISIS gunmen later took and killed hostages in a night of terror in the French capital.

History student Hanna, who lives in Lenton, said: “It was towards the end of the concert and it sounded like firecrackers or fireworks.

“People started screaming and the lead singer look startled and ran off stage.

“Then the lights went on and everyone dropped to the floor, it felt like we were in there for ages.

“We were all on the floor and there was this banging, and it just didn’t sound like a gun, I’ve never heard one before.

 

Survivor Jack is on a year abroad in Paris

“I thought someone was going to stop him when we were on the floor but then the guns kept going.

“I couldn’t understand why there was lots of shooting, I thought it was the end.”

Hanna arrived in Paris on Friday morning to meet Jack, who is currently living in Paris as part of a year abroad for his French and Russian degree.

Describing the horrifying events, Hanna said: “Jack was with me, there were so many people around us lying on top of each other trying to protect everyone.

“It literally seemed like a nightmare.

“Then people started moving and crawling over each other to try and climb out of the fire exits, it was pretty inhumane.”

Hanna was meant to return to the UK on Monday, but lost her passport and phone during the struggle to escape, and is now having trouble trying to get home.

She said: “Obviously I just left everything behind, like I left my shoes.

“We were really lucky, you could see blood on the floor when we were trying to get out.

“It was quite a haunting silence actually.”