A mother with her son are seen near the Bataclan concert hall. Parisians are in shock over the terror attacks. Photo / Getty Images
A mother with her son are seen near the Bataclan concert hall. Parisians are in shock over the terror attacks. Photo / Getty Images
A Tauranga woman in Paris has spoken about her worry a day after the terror attacks.
There are now 307 New Zealanders registered as being in France, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. There are no reported fatalities or Kiwis injured.
Tauranga's Kelsey O'Dea, 21, who is living in Paris on a university exchange, was at the Stade de France stadium with a Canadian friend when the explosions sounded.
"Didn't get to sleep until just before 4am as was too worried to sleep," she said.
"Unfortunately I have an essay to write, though it's the last thing I feel like doing.
"I haven't received any word from the university saying not to come, so I assume I still have class."
Ruby Black, 24, told Radio New Zealand she was at the Gare du Nord train station when she noticed people looking at their phones - before sprinting for their lives.
"I've never been in a sitation before where you actually see people running for their lives - people not even noticing you when they run past because of the terror on their face,'' she told the station.
"People were running up the escalators that were going down.''
Ms Black's mother, Paris-based artist Tracey Tawhiao, told Maori TV her daughter said a man approached her on the train and warned her not to get on the metro as there were explosives nearby.
"She told me to meet her across the road. As soon as we found each other, we hugged, kissed and ran away.''
The women have relatives in Tauranga.
Wellington man Patrick Whatman, who lives near the Bataclan in Paris, had been at a pub watching the France vs Germany game when he was alerted to the terror attacks by his partner.
"Today, my partner and I want to go Christmas shopping," he said.
"The malls are open, which in itself seems extraordinary, but that's just the attitude here - to change one's plans would be to admit defeat. Making the day's schedule is one big logic exercise - we should avoid the Metro, because that's an obvious target.
"We shouldn't go to Les Halles - the mall in the centre of Paris - because there were reports of attacks there last night. We will head for a mall well outside the central city, because somehow that seems safer.
"But should we even leave the house at all? These attacks might not be finished, and there could be copycats and co-conspirators awaiting their turn. But then, what makes tomorrow safer than today? Maybe we should leave it three days, just to be safe? We want to lean on some clear-cut logic for reassurance, but last night just wasn't logical. These terrorists aren't following the script."
"We didn't know what would be open tonight so we're at someone's place. It's nice to be with people."
Flowers and candles placed outside Le Carillon bar. Photo / Getty
TVNZ Europe correspondent Emma Keeling arrived in Paris today on the almost-empty Eurostar. "The guy looking after the 3 Eurostar carriages we're in says he was expecting 66 people today and 23 have turned up," she tweeted.
"Taxi driver says people have been told to stay in so not that busy."
She visited the Bataclan where she took photos of flowers left for victims.
A group of seven New Zealanders have come together tonight in Paris the night after a deadly terrorist attack struck.
One of the seven who spoke to NZME News Service, but did not want to be named, said the day after the attack had been relatively normal. The Metro system was working as normal and services were working.
"Everyone is just carrying on as normal, but people are wary. You can hear them saying 'look after yourself and take care'.
"There's not a lot of people out tonight, but about the same for a Monday night."
The group of Kiwis had met up at one's house tonight.
"We didn't know what would be open tonight so we're at someone's place. It's nice to be with people."
New Zealanders Petero Godquin and Duncan Sheffield can thank their real estate agent with saving their lives after he turned up just as they were about to head out for dinner at one of the shooting sites - Le Petit Cambodge restaurant.
"We were supposed to be at the shooting site when it happened for a celebration dinner," Mr Godquin told the Herald. "It is literally down the road from where we live, but our real estate agent popped over with champagne and that delayed our evening... Saved us basically."
MFAT is advising against all tourist and other non-essential travel to Paris and the Ile de France area "until the security situation stabilises".
Kiwis in France were advised to keep themselves informed of potential risks to safety by monitoring media and local information sources, follow instructions from local authorities, limit movements and exercise vigilance in public places.
Family and friends with concerns about someone in Paris should try and make direct contact with them, MFAT said.
New Zealander Security Intelligence Service Minister Christopher Finlayson said the risk for New Zealanders remains "low".
• Contact MFAT on 04 439 8000 if you have ongoing concerns. Register your details on SafeTravel.govt.nz if you are in France, or planning to travel there
