Paris // French prosecutors and witnesses have pieced together a chilling account of the minutes leading up to a suspected terrorist buying a train ticket to Paris last week and which was supposed to have, authorities said, ended in a massacre.
Ayoub El Khazzani arrived at the Midi train station in Brussels on Friday, August 21 and paid €149 (Dh625) in cash for a first-class ticket on a high-speed train to Paris.
The ticket seller asked the 25-year-old Moroccan if he wanted to travel earlier, on a less crowded train, but he refused – it was the packed 3.17pm Thalys train linking Amsterdam to Paris that he wanted.
At some point, he watched one last YouTube video of a preacher, then alone in the bathroom of the high-speed train he removed his shirt and grabbed his assault rifle.
At 5.35pm he opened the bathroom door, leaving behind some of his luggage. Strapped to his chest was a bag full of 270 rounds of ammunition and a second gun, a Luger M80 pistol.
A young French banker, waiting his turn for the bathroom, saw the weapon and grabbed Mr Khazzani with both hands.
For about 15 seconds they were locked together, said Paris prosecutor Francois Molins.
In the next car, the train manager Michel Bruet heard a struggle he assumed was just a brawl – until, that is, he realised Mr Khazzani was armed.
He rushed to help. Mr Khazzani took aim at the young Frenchman and shot.
“We heard passengers screaming in English, ‘He’s shooting! He’s got a Kalashnikov!’,” said French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade, who was in car 11.
Suddenly, Anglade said, train crew members ran into the corridor and locked the door behind them.
In car 12, two Americans – US air force Airman Spencer Stone and national guardsman Alek Skarlatos – saw a man enter the carriage with an assault rifle and a handgun.
“I turned to Spencer and I said, ‘Let’s go, let’s go’,” said Mr Skarlatos.
Mr Khazzani made an upward movement with his weapon – an AKM, an assault rifle similar to a Kalashnikov – and Stone saw his chance, tackling him to the ground, witnesses said.
Mr Skarlatos grabbed the gun but Khazzani pulled out his pistol, pointed it at Skarlatos and pulled the trigger – but no bullet came out.
Mr Stone wrapped his hands around Khazzani’s neck as the attacker fought back with the box cutter, slicing the American in his neck and thumb.
Mr Skarlatos was still trying to disarm him when other passengers rushed to help.
At least one more shot is fired, the bullet hitting Mark Moogalian, a 51-year-old French-American, in the neck.
Mr Khazzani lost consciousness. He was quickly tied upWhen the train arrived in Arras, Mr Khazzani was arrested. Most of the 554 passengers on board not even realising what had happened.
* Agence France-Presse