The presence of mind of a Muslim employee at the kosher grocery store in Paris came in handy when the store was under a terrorist attack by Amedy Coulibaly. On January 9, two days after the Charlie Hebdo shooting, the grocery store in Northern Paris was attacked too. At that time, Lassana Bathily, employed at the same grocery store, used his wits and saved lives of several customers by asking them to hide in the basement cold storage room. Bathily reportedly saved 15 jews in this attack.
Bathily, 24, reportedly from Mali in West Africa, escorted a group of customers to hide in the cold storage room when Coulibaly was on a firing spree . After helping this group of people, he went out again risking his own life to bring more people to safety.
"I went down to the freezer, I opened the door, there were several people who went in with me. I turned off the light and the freezer... I brought them inside and I told them to stay calm here, I'm going out. When they were rescued, they thanked me," Bathily was quoted as on a French network BFMTV.
When Bathily was on his way out, he was encountered with the police who mistook him to be a co-conspirator of Coulibaly. The police hand cuffed him for an hour and a half and asked him to lay on the ground. Once he was released, he helped the police with the layout of the store and where people were hiding.
The survivors hiding in the freezer were able to call their friends and family to let them know of their safety. Today, social media is buzzing with his praises and demand an award of bravery for Bathily.
Amedy Coulibaly opened fire at the grocery store on January 9, killing 4 people. He took several people hostages for hours. He demanded the release of Cherif and Said Kouachi who were holed up in a warehouse after attacking Charlie Hebdo Office on January 7. He threatened police to kill the hostages if the Kouachi brothers were not freed. Late on January 9, the police killed the Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly finally ending the Paris hostage crisis.
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