Muslim Man Saves Numerous Lives During Paris Kosher Market Siege

Lassana Bathily, a Muslim employee of the Paris kosher supermarket held up by a terrorist yesterday, is being hailed as a hero after he saved numerous customers from being kept hostage.

The terrorist, Amedy Coulibaly, had taken the market hostage and threatened to kill everyone inside if the police took action against Cherif and Said Kouachi, the two brothers suspected of the Charlie Hebdo massacre. The Kouachis were eventually killed in a separate raid.

When Coulibaly began opening fire in the market, customers started rushed into the basement along with Bathily, who suddenly had an idea and began herding people into a giant walk-in freezer. “I turned off the light, I turned off the freezer,” he told BFMTV. As he locked the door from the outside, he told them: “Stay calm here. I’m going out.”

He later checked in on the survivors in the fridge, who said they were cold but otherwise doing well. “We’ll open a bottle of wine here, there are plenty,” someone in the fridge joked. Police soon raided the supermarket and killed Coulibaly, eventually releasing the freezer hostages.

“They congratulated me,” Bathily said.

Watch the interview below (in French), via BFMTV:

Prise d'otage de la porte de Vincennes: les… by BFMTV

[h/t BuzzFeed]
[Image via screenshot]

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