PARIS (AP) — A Belgian official says seven people have been detained in Belgium linked to the Paris attacks.
The official, who spoke to The Associated Press in Brussels by phone, also said two of the seven attackers who died in Paris on Friday night were French men living in Brussels. He said one of the French attackers was living in the Molenbeek neighborhood, which is considered a focal point for religious extremism and fighters going to Syria.
The official said the seven people who were detained will hear later Sunday whether they will be held in custody longer.
He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing investigation.
—Raf Casert in Brussels.
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3:20 p.m.
A Belgian official says a Franco-Belgian investigating team has been set up to probe the Brussels links to the Paris attacks.
The official, who spoke to The Associated Press in Brussels by phone, said French investigators have already arrived in the Belgian capital for a joint effort to find the people behind the killings in Paris.
He says two of the seven attackers who died in Paris on Friday night were French men living in Brussels. One of the French attackers was living in Brussels’ Molenbeek neighborhood, which is considered a focal point for religious extremism and fighters going to Syria.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing investigation.
—Raf Casert in Brussels
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2:55 p.m.
A French survivor of the rampage at Paris’ Bataclan concert hall says he was struck by how young the attackers were.
Julien Pearce, journalist at Europe 1 radio, was at the Bataclan concert hall on Friday to attend the concert by the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal. He said when the three attackers stormed in “it took me few seconds to realize it was gunshots.”
Pearce and his friends immediately got down on the ground to avoid the random shots, then ran and crawled into a tiny dark room next to the stage. He says “there was no exit, so we were just in another trap, less exposed, but still a trap.”
Pearce said could discreetly look out and see one of the assailants. He says “he seemed very young. That’s what struck me, his childish face, very determined, cold, calm, frightening.”
Once the attackers reloaded, his group rang across the stage to the emergency exit, helping a wounded woman out. Looking back, he saw “dozens and dozens of entangled, bullet-riddled bodies in a pool of blood.”
Eighty-nine people were killed at the hall.
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