Stories of heroism have begun to emerge in the wake of Friday's deadly attack at a kosher market in central Paris. One Muslim man, who worked at the store, is being hailed for reportedly hiding several customers in a fridge during the siege. The attack, described by French President Francois Hollande as an anti-Semitic attack, left four hostages and the attacker dead after an hours-long standoff with police. Lassana Bathily, who worked in the Hypher Cacher market, was at the store when the gunman stormed the building. He is described in local reports as a 24-year-old Muslim. Bathily was interviewed by French broadcaster BFMTV and recounted how he ushered customers into a refrigerator as the gunman entered the market Friday afternoon. He can be seen in the photo below. Bravo à Lassana Bathily, l'un des héros de la prise d'otages de Vincennes — Adrien Sénécat (@AdrienSnk) January 10, 2015 According to Bathily's account, when the attack on the store began, a group of people ran into the basement of the store. He led them into a refrigerator and turned the machine off, before attempting to get help. "When they ran down, I opened the door [of the refrigerator]. There were several people who had turned to me. I turned off the light, I turned off the freezer.... I closed the door, I told them stay calm, I'm going out," said Bathily, who BFMTV described as humble when retelling the story. He escaped the store and, once safe, gave the police information about what was going on inside the building. All of the people in the refrigerator were rescued, according to French media. Bathily is seen in this French language report speaking about the attack. Le Parisien reported that a local official corroborated the account. "When they saw the individual enter and shoot, a small group of customers had the sense to lift a trap door in the floor to hide," said Malik Yettou, a municipal councilor in the Saint-Maurice (Val-de-Marne) area of Paris. It is not clear how many people Bathily helped hide, though BFMTV estimates around 15 people took refugee in the refrigerator until they could be rescued. On Saturday many hailed Bathily as a hero. A gunman identified as Amedy Coulibaly was the man behind the deadly attack on the market in eastern Paris. Coulibaly reportedly told a local journalist in an phone call made during the siege that he had chosen the kosher store because he was "targeting Jews." Coulibaly was later killed as French security forces raided the market. He is believed to have killed a police officer on Thursday in a separate attack in the Montrogue neighborhood, and officials have said he was connected to the gunmen who attacked the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine earlier in the week. Authorities were still looking for a woman who had been identified as his wife, Hayat Boumeddiene, on Saturday. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
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Prise d'otage de la porte de Vincennes: les... by BFMTV
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