Reuters Exclusive: In Paris attack, nurse discovers the man he tried to save was bomber

 

Reuters

 

PARIS | By Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Pauline Mevel

 

David, a French nurse who delivered first aid to a suicide attacker who blew himself up at the Comptoir Voltaire cafe during last week's Paris attacks, poses during an interview with Reuters in Paris, France, November 20, 2015. FRANCE-SHOOTING/NURSE-BOMBER

Reuters/Eric Gaillard

 

In the chaos of the explosion at the Comptoir Voltaire cafe, one of several targets hit in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, nurse David instinctively sought to help the wounded.
Among them was a man lying amid overturned chairs and tables. David, who asked to be called just by his first name, lay him down. The man did not look to have massive injuries, but appeared unconscious, so David began CPR, the cardiopulmonary resuscitation he'd been trained for.
When he tore open the man's t-shirt, David quickly realized that what he initially thought was a gas explosion at the cafe close to the Bataclan music hall where gunmen killed 89, was actually something far worse.
"There were wires; one white, one black, one red and one orange. Four different colors," he told Reuters. "I knew then he was a suicide bomber."
The man David was trying to resuscitate was Brahim Abdeslam, one of those involved in a series of deadly attacks that killed 130 people at bars, restaurants, a soccer stadium and a music hall. No one other than Abdeslam died at the cafe.

 

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