Paris terror attacks: Scots women lucky to be alive after hiding from gunmen in cellar

TWO British survivors of the Paris atrocities hid in a cellar at the Bataclan concert hall as terrorists killed almost 100 people above them.

Friends Christine Tudhope and Mariesha Payne cowered in fear for three terrifying hours while militants murdered defenceless victims.

The traumatised friends said they could hear gunfire, explosions, screams and the sound of bodies thudding on to the floor above their hiding place.

They had run for cover after bullets hit the stage in front of them as they watched their favourite band perform.

Their ordeal only came to an end when police stormed the building and led them to safety.

Their shocking story came as the official death toll rose to at least 129 with a further 352 people said to have been wounded, 99 of them critically.

One victim being evacuated after the Bataclan concert hall shoortings (AP)

Terrorist group ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks which it said were in response to France’s involvement in air strikes on its militants in Syria and Iraq.

Speaking from Paris, Christine, 34, said: “We could hear everything happening around us explosions, gunfire. We could hear bodies hitting the floor and people screaming.”

Mariesha said: “I could hear the dull thuds of bodies hitting the ground.

“I think they were torturing people, too. We heard people screaming. We don’t know what they were doing to them.

“I didn’t think we were coming out of there alive.”

As many as 100 people were killed in the Bataclan concert hall after suicide bombers took hostages then blew themselves up.

The massacre at the venue was part of a series of co-ordinated attacks in Paris on Friday night.

More than 20 other people were gunned down outside restaurants by militants brandishing AK-47 assault rifles.

Two suicide bombers also targeted the Stade de France stadium where President Francois Hollande was watching the national football team play Germany.

President Hollande has said the attacks across Paris, carried out by eight gunmen and suicide bombers, were “organised and planned from outside”.

PR officer Christine and full-time mum Mariesha, 33, were in Paris to attend a gig at the Bataclan by American rockers Eagles Of Death Metal as part of a joint birthday celebration.

The two women were at the front of the stage when they heard gunshots ring out.

Eagles of Death Metal playing in the Bataclan concert hall before the attack.

Mariesha, who lives in Auchterarder with husband Neil and their two children, said: “I saw bullets hit the stage in front of me. A few rounds went off, popping.

“I said, ‘It’s gunfire. Run! Get out of here!’”

The pair ran through a gap in the barrier in front of them into a backstage area as chaos erupted around them.

They ran to the right and found the cellar where they hid.

It was only when they were freed, hours later, that they realised they would have found the exit to the street if they had turned left instead.

Two Italian tourists managed to get into the cellar moments after them and immediately locked the door.

The cellar measured just 20ft by 10ft and was barely big enough for them to stand up in.

Hunkered down between crates of drinks, the terrified group stayed as quiet as they could for fear the killers would find them.

They then had to listen helplessly as the terrorists tortured and killed victims, sometimes just yards from the door of their temporary sanctuary.

Police patrol the streets near the Bataclan concert hall (Getty Images)

Christine, from Saline near Dunfermline, said: “Two Italian guys came into the cellar straight after us. They locked the door and put the light off. Luckily, the door locked from the inside.

“We could hear random shooting and knocking on doors.

“Our survival instincts kicked in and we kept each other calm and quiet.

“The Italians said they could hear people mentioning grenades.”

Christine could hear the terrorists speaking French and using walkie-talkies to communicate with each other.

She said the Italians understood what was being said but refused to translate it as “it would only scare them”.

Chilling footage has emerged showing concert-goers dragging blood-soaked friends from the scene.

One woman clung desperately to a second-floor window ledge as she tried to hide from the terrorists.

Eyewitnesses said the terrorists shouted “Allahu Akbar”, “This is for Syria” and “Revenge!” during the attack.

Christine said: “The killers were talking to the police and they had hostages.

“At one point they must have been right outside our room.

“They were speaking very fast. They said something about ‘revenge’.

“The attack lasted the entire three hours. There were a lot of big explosions.

“We thought the only way we would get out was if they blew up the building and the cellar protected us.

“It went quiet during the last 20 minutes and that’s when the police got to us.”

It was only at this point they realised there had been an English tourist hiding in a room next to them.

Christine said: “We could hear people shouting to him, telling him, ‘It’s the police, it really is the police’.

“We got the impression we were the last people to be found.”

Christine said they spotted British tourists in the venue before the attack, including five Scottish men, but she doesn’t know how many made it out alive.

She said: “I heard the Scottish guys in the bar before the gig started. I don’t know what happened to them.”

Police stormed the Bataclan but the attackers, who were wearing suicide belts, blew themselves up.

Mariesha said: “When the police found us they told us we had to come out of the room with our hands above our heads.

“We also had to pull our tops up to show we didn’t have any devices on us.

“They told us not to look at the ground when we came out. We were not to look at anything and keep our eyes straight forward.”

The police led the survivors through the venue to the streets outside before searching them for weapons.

They were then moved to an apartment across the street.

Christine said: “The apartment was covered in blood.

“It was in the entrance and on the stairs. It was everywhere.”

Shocking pictures of nearby apartment taken by Christine and Mariesha

The police took their details before contacting their families who had been waiting anxiously at home for news.

They were then told to keep their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them and marched along the street to a nearby caf.

Christine said: “We were asked if we saw anyone and what language the attackers were speaking.

“We said we hadn’t seen the attackers, we just heard them.”

It was 4am before the shaken women finally got back to their hotel along the road from the venue.

They are scheduled to fly home today after failing to book an earlier flight yesterday.

Christine said: “We wanted to get a flight home earlier but couldn’t get one.

“We contacted the Foreign Office. They took our details but said they couldn’t do much and it was up to our airline.”

The pair said they had been emotional when they were freed by police but added the full extent of their experience had still to hit home.

Mariesha said she hadn’t cried but expected to break down when she is reunited with her two-year-old son Harper and eight-month-old baby Elliot.

She said: “When the police got us out one of them took us away to the side and said, ‘You can cry now’.

“We were teary but we have not cried yet.

“I think it will kick in when I see my kids.”

Several families in Britain were last night waiting to find out if their loved ones in Paris had been among those killed as more stories emerged from survivors.

Nottingham University students Hanna Corbett and Jack Konda, both 21, were forced to crawl on their hands and knees past dead bodies to escape the Bataclan venue.

Hanna said: “Some managed to crawl out, but there was just a pile of people by the fire exit. We didn’t know what we were crawling over.

“When we got out, there were people running for their lives.”

Scottish au pairs Elizabeth Hodgson and friend Fiona Dodds, 24, were caught up in the attack at the national stadium.

They’d travelled to the Stade de France along with American pal Stephanie Johnson, 26, to watch France take on Germany.

Elizabeth, 24, who went to St Saviour’s High School in Dundee, said: “It’s dreadful what has happened, and it is only going to get worse.

“We only got the tickets on Friday as a pal of mine couldn’t use them. I don’t even like football.

“During the first half we heard three explosions, but the game carried on and things remained calm. We were in the family section and the atmosphere was pretty good.

“At half-time the wifi in the stadium was turned off, so my phone wasn’t working. It was only when I went to use the bathroom it was obvious something was wrong.

“We were being asked to use the disabled toilets, as the ladies are further out of the stadium. They clearly didn’t want us going into an exposed area.

“When it became clear what was going on we just tried to get home as quickly as possible.

“Outside the ground there were police everywhere and it was very tense.

“On the journey back we were going down an escalator in Chtelet-Les Halles station and were told to go back as there was a lone man on the platform. We left as quickly as we could.

“I am so relieved to still be alive. I’m not leaving Paris, that would mean they have won.”

The French Football Federation has confirmed that three people were killed in an explosion outside the stadium.

Another Brit, Charlotte Brehaut, was one of around 40 diners who were inside Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge when it was attacked.

She said: “We ducked to the floor and heard more gunshots coming through the window.

“I was holding a woman’s arm next to me. I realised she had been fatally wounded.

“She had been shot in the chest and there was blood all around her.”