By Shy Hardiman and Niki Kottmann
Reports say that at least 128 people died in six different Paris locations after ISIS suicide bombers and shooters attacked the French capital on Nov. 13.
“I got the news about the attacks because I got a cellphone alert of BBC saying that there have been attacks,” says Santiago Martinez, an exchange student from Mexico studying at Sciences Po de Paris. Martinez studied alongside Mizzou exchange students in Reims, France last spring.
Martinez was at a bar not too far away from some of the incidents when he and his friends were instructed to stay put because it was not safe outside. They were eventually escorted to safety by locals using #porteouverte to offer those in danger, rides and refuge.
TIME and other news outlets used the hashtag when tweeting about their coverage of the tragedy on Friday. Photo Courtesy of @TIME.
On Nov. 14, the French interior minister issued a statement saying that France is under a state of emergency, which could add strict measures to France’s border control.
Martinez says that there have been large search parties created to look for more victims, and that he and other students are still not sure if their classes will be resumed due to safety precautions.
ISIS or ISIL as they are also commonly referred to is the terrorist group who is responsible for the public beheading videos of journalists from all over the world. On the same day as the Paris attack, a US drone strike aimed at Jihadi John, the man in the now infamous beheading videos, is believed to have killed him and other members of the organization, although, no reports have been issued by ISIS or French authorities stating that the Nov. 13 Paris attacks are an act of terrorist retaliation.
“I am afraid about the reaction,” Martinez says. “On one hand, they are keeping the people informed, having massive search parties and a shitload of security. They have a good response in the sense that it is a reaction. However, it is so complicated to try to prevent these kinds of attacks.”
Martinez is concerned with the large amount of coverage regarding the response of the US and UK expressing condolences for France in comparison to the little coverage and lack of response to the attacks that took place in Beirut earlier this week.
“…meanwhile, people have died, and not just here in Paris, but in Beirut, yet no media coverage nor high-profile statements were made for them,” Martinez says.
The Beirut attack that Martinez is referring to was a double suicide bombing that occurred on Thursday, Nov. 12 and killed 43 people in a predominantly Shiite region of southern Beirut. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Aside from the dozens of fatalities in the Paris attacks, there were also 180 people injured during the attacks. Nearly 200 were wounded in Beirut.
“It has been a deep wound as humanity,” Martinez says.
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Putting Everything in Perspective
The six locations where the Paris attacks occurred:
- Stade de France, where a France v Germany soccer game was being played.
- At the Bataclan, a concert hall where American rock band, Eagles of Death Metal, were playing.
- Other locations include restaurants and bars near the theater.
Recent violence in France
This attack comes just 10 months after the terrorist attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January.
12 people were killed in the attack on the magazine as well as another four in a standoff during a grocery store shooting. All three assailants responsible for the attacks, including two brothers who said the attack was because the magazine mocked the prophet Mohammed, were killed by police.
The Missouri Atlas 