A chilling report from the Wall Street Journal revealed that one of the suicide bombers involved in Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris attempted to enter the international soccer friendly between France and Germany. The bomber had a ticket to the match but was denied entry after being frisked, when his bomb vest was discovered.
The guard—who asked to be identified only by his first name, Zouheir—said the attacker was discovered wearing an explosives vest when he was frisked at the entrance to the stadium about 15 minutes into the game. France was playing an exhibition against Germany inside.
While attempting to back away from security, Zouheir said, the attacker detonated the vest. Zouheir, who was stationed by the players’ tunnel, said he was briefed on the sequence by the security frisking team at the gate.
A police officer confirmed the sequence, adding that police suspect the attacker aimed to detonate his vest inside the stadium in order to provoke a deadly stampede.
You can hear the explosion go off in the middle of the game in this clip:
It’s incredibly fortunate that the vest was discovered at the security check. An absolutely horrific attack could have been even worse had the bomber managed to get inside the stadium, which fits 80,000 spectators.
(Via Wall Street Journal)