Two U.S. soldiers aboard the high-speed Thalys train from Amsterdam to
Paris heard from the nearby bathroom a familiar and frightening sound:
the bolt being thrown on a Kalashnikov rifle as someone prepared to
fire. (This is according to French regional newspaper La Voix du Nord
and Paris-Match, which happened to have a reporter on the train.) When
the soldiers confronted the man inside, a wild scene ensued as the
shooter struggled with the passengers, using a knife as well as a gun to
try to kill them. At least three passengers were injured, including two
with serious wounds, one from bullets, the other from the knife. It is
not yet clear if the two U.S. soldiers, who were in civilian clothes,
were among the wounded. Finally, passengers were able to subdue the
shooter, who reportedly was of North African origin. He was taken into
custody when the train stopped at the town of Arras in northern
France. No terrorist links to the incident have been established thus
far, but France has been on edge since the Charlie Hebdo and kosher
supermarket massacres in January. High-speed trains such as the Thalys
are supposed to have heightened security as part of a nationwide alert,
but there are no baggage checks except on the Eurostar, which runs
beneath the English Channel.— Christopher Dickey |
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