People hang outside the Bataclan theatre as gunmen kill those inside. Photo / Le Monde
People hang outside the Bataclan theatre as gunmen kill those inside. Photo / Le Monde
WARNING: This article contains disturbing footage
A video has captured the dramatic moment of a pregnant woman clinging onto a window ledge and screaming for help as terrorists spray gun fire inside the Paris theatre where more than 100 people were killed.
The video, captured by a journalist for the French newspaper Le Monde, shows scores of terrified concert-goers running for their lives as they race out of three emergency side exits at the Bataclan theatre and into an alley.
Three people can be seen clinging by their finger tips to first and second floor windows before hauling themselves to safety when the gunfire finally stops.
One of them can be heard screaming: "I'm pregnant, please help me I'm going to drop out."
In other scenes, the injured are dragged to safety along the alleyway by friends, leaving behind bloody trails on the road. An injured woman can be seen in agony on the floor outside an emergency exit, screaming for help.
Rapid gunfire can be heard at the beginning of the footage, lasting two-and-a-half minutes, and then two shots can be heard about a minute later and a further two shots after that, ten seconds later.
More than 100 people were killed in the concert hall when three teams of masked gunmen opened fire before blowing themselves up.
The footage was captured by Daniel Psenny, a journalist with le Monde newspaper, who lives in an apartment behind the Bataclan club. He was subsequently wounded when a bullet struck him in the left arm after he had abandoned the safety of his flat to go down to street level to help the injured.
Psenny first realised there was an incident when he heard the sound of what he thought was firecrackers going off and at first believed - because he was watching a crime thriller at the time - that it was coming from his television.
"But the noise was loud, so I went to the window," he said, "I live on the second floor, and my apartment overlooks the emergency exits Bataclan.
Survivors of the Bataclan theatre massacre. Photo / Getty Images
"Everyone was running from all sides, I saw guys on the floor, blood ... I understood that there was something serious. I asked what was happening. Everyone rushed back to the Rue Amelot and Boulevard Voltaire.
"A woman was clinging to the Bataclan window on the second floor. I thought of the images of 9/11."
Psenny stopped filming and went down to the street to aid the injured. "I opened the door of the building. There was a man lying on the sidewalk," he recalled, "With another man we tried to drag him to safety in the lobby.
"At that moment, I was hit by a bullet. I do not know [what happened], my mind is a blank. But I remember it felt like a firecracker exploding in my left arm, and I saw that it was spurting blood.
"I think the shooter was at the Bataclan window. The man we saved was shot in the leg. He was an American. He vomited, he was cold, we thought that he would die.
"We called the emergency services, but they could not evacuate us. I called a doctor friend who told me how to make me a tourniquet with my shirt. And we stayed there until the assault was over."
Trapped inside a theatre of blood
A woman trapped inside the Bataclan told Buzzfeed France that she thought it was some sort of joke when the terrorists began shooting.
"There was something just before the gunshots: I heard two noises that sounded like some kind of crack, or a bang... Then I heard something like firecrackers, but I didn't think it was gunshots. I saw a man with a weapon which, from where I was, looked like it was plastic made... I guess I was still in denial. Then the smell of powder started to come in."
Lynda, a 35-year-old from the northern French city of Le Havre on vacation in Paris, was watching The Eagles of Death Metal concert when the shooting began.
She told Buzzfeed France she only saw one shooter then dropped to the floor and tried to as still as possible.
"I only saw one person, even if apparently there were four of them. I only saw him one time, since they told us to hit the ground, and I avoided moving as much as I could. ... When I heard the gunshots, I told myself that it was undoubtedly the people who were trying to get up ... It's when I saw the blood that I realised this wasn't a bad joke.
A woman is evacuated from the Bataclan theatre. Photo / Getty Images
"I was partly lying on a man who had blood on his trousers, I didn't know if it was his blood or someone else's blood, but in any case he could move his legs. I saw blood on my tote bag, I saw blood on my hand, I didn't know if it was mine or someone else's."
She said one of the shooters was talking about Francois Hollande, and someone shouted a telephone number before silence.
"There was silence for a long time. People who were hurt were groaning, people were starting to panic, we were telling everyone to shut up, to remain unmoving.
"I felt like I was in a bad dream, I was in total denial, I told myself it wasn't possible, and I tried to tell myself - no, you can't die today.
"I tried to focus on my breathing ... I covered my ears because of the noise of the gunshots ... I had really irrational reactions, I told myself - I must keep my bag next to me. I had this fear it would turn over, because inside I had my jacket, and a friend's jacket, and I told myself - what if we're able to leave and we're cold? It was weird to get hung up on things like that."
Lynda told Buzzfeed France she lost her friends during the commotion, but in her place on the floor found comfort with others.
"We would hold each other's hands, touch each other's arms or back to comfort one another."
When the security forces arrived at the theatre evacuation began.
"The police told us that, no matter what, don't look at the ground. Even another man next to me told me - don't look at the ground ... But with the blood on the ground, it was slippery, so we didn't really have a choice. During the evacuation, we had to stride over corpses, so we had to look at the floor."
Once outside Lynda and the other survivors of the Bataclan attack realised the magnitude of what had occurred across Paris.
"I didn't at all realize that there were other attacks in other places, it was rather strange ... We settled in cafes and little shops in neighboring streets, to get warm and to calm down, before making our statements to the police. I sent a text to my friends to tell them where I was, and that's where we met up."
Lynda told Buzzfeed France today she felt fortunate to have made it out alive.
"Seeing the witness accounts, I realized that they were shooting a bit haphazardly. This morning, it was a bit of a shock to tell myself I really was lucky, and my friends too, statistically it's unbelievable ... You understand that you're not safe anywhere, and no matter what precautions you take, all it takes is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
