Three American men are being hailed as heroes for overpowering a heavily-armed gunman on a train in northern France.
The incident happened on the high-speed Thalys service near Arras. A 26-year-old Moroccan man was arrested at Arras station.
One
of the Americans said they took an AK-47 assault rifle and a handgun
from the attacker as they saw him walk down the aisle of the train.
They then put him in a chokehold until he was unconscious.
Two
of the American men who overpowered the gunman, Spencer Stone and Alek
Skarlatos, are members of the Air Force and the National Guard
respectively.
They were travelling on the train from Amsterdam to
Paris on Friday evening with a childhood friend, Anthony Sadler, who
also helped restrain the attacker.
"Spencer got to the guy first and grabbed the guy by the neck," Mr Skarlatos told Sky News.
Media captionAnthony Sadler's father Tony says he is "still wrapping his head around" events of the past 24 hours
"I
grabbed the handgun, got that away from the guy and threw it. Then I
grabbed the AK-47, which was at his feet, and started muzzle-bumping him
in the head with it.
"Everybody just started beating the guy while Spencer held the chokehold until he went unconscious."
When
he checked the AK-47, Mr Skarlotos said it had jammed and would not
have been able to fire. The cartridge for the handgun had also been
dropped, he said.
French authorities said three people were injured, two of them seriously - one with a gunshot wound, the other a knife wound.
Media captionKaren Skarlatos says they "seized that opportunity to rush" the 26-year-old Moroccan
Scene-of-crime experts were quickly summoned
Chris Norman, a British man living in France, was also hurt while trying to subdue the attacker.
"I came in at the end of it all and helped get him under control," he said at a news conference in Arras.
"The guy pulled out a cutter and started cutting Spencer - he cut behind his neck and nearly cut his thumb off."
Another
man, who has not been identified, suffered severe cuts to his neck.
Spencer Stone went to help him despite his own injuries. Mr Stone
remains in hospital.
Media captionFrance's
interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised the action of American
passengers who prevented what he called a "terrible drama"
"I'm really proud of my friend that he just reacted so quickly and so bravely," Anthony Sadler said.
"He
was really the first one over there. Even after being injured himself,
he went to go help the other man who was bleeding also. Without his
help, he would have died.
"That man was bleeding from his neck profusely."
Social
worker Christina Coons from New York was one of the 554 people on
board. She told BBC Radio 5 Live she ducked under her seat when she
heard shots.
She said: "None of these men were in uniform. They
were just regular passengers, this afternoon, who stepped up to the
plate as soon as they saw what was happening."
French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade cut his hand smashing the alarm glass
The passengers included French
actor Jean-Hugues Anglade, the star of Betty Blue and Nikita, who was
lightly wounded breaking glass to sound the alarm.
The American men and Mr Norman were awarded medals for bravery by authorities in Arras.
US President Barack Obama was among those to praise those who took action.
"The
president expressed his profound gratitude for the courage and quick
thinking of several passengers, including US service members, who
selflessly subdued the attacker," the White House said in a statement.
"It is clear that their heroic actions may have prevented a far worse tragedy."
French
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the passengers were
"particularly courageous and showed great bravery in very difficult
circumstances", adding: "Without their composure we could have been
confronted with a terrible incident."
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel called the incident a "terrorist attack". French media said the arrested man was known to the intelligence services but he has so far refused to talk to police in Arras.
Images shared on social media appeared to show him being restrained on the station platform in Arras.
France
has been on edge since the attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a
Jewish supermarket in Paris in January, which left 17 people dead.
And
in June a man said to be inspired by the Islamic State group beheaded
his boss and tried to blow up a gas plant in southern France.
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