Shoppers hid in freezer to avoid siege gunman
Terrified shoppers hid in a cold room in the basement of a Paris supermarket to avoid a gunman who held several hostages before the siege ended with police storming the building.
About 30 people who had been out buying kosher food for the Sabbath cowered in the freezing temperatures while gunfire rang out in the store above them, the Daily Mail reports.
One of the shoppers, Johan Dorre, 36, called a friend and family member on his mobile phone as the drama played out overhead.
“Johan and the others were terrified that they would be discovered by the terrorists and were forced to huddle together like frightened animals to avoid hypothermia,” Johan’s uncle Jacob Katorza told the Daily Mail.
“Johan was to speak to my brother Haim by phone for only two or three minutes and told him to stay quiet and wait until help arrived.”
“Then we just stood at the barriers for five hours and waited for news. It was terrible - the longest five hours of my life.”
Police ended the stand-off by storming the shop on Paris’ eastern edge.
The gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, was killed, while four hostages were also found dead.
Police are still looking for Coulibaly's girlfriend, Hayat Boumeddiene, who is believed to have been with him.
Morning news break – January 10
