Malaysian student in Paris: Everyone is panicking, everyone is scared

PETALING JAYA: The environment in Paris is tense with the city in the grip of fear, said a Malaysian student studying in the French capital. 

The master of business administration (MBA) student, who wished to be known as Elly said that Parisians are remaining at home as coordinated attacks took place in various locations throughout the city. 

"Everyone is afraid to take the Metro or walk around in Paris. Tomorrow all schools will be closed. Everyone is staying home, they are scared and that's the worst part. Everyone is panicking. Everyone is really scared," she told The Star Online on Saturday. 

Security in the city has also been heightened and some hotels have barred their doors, she added. 

"I left Paris right before it happened. The attacks started at about 10.40pm. I left at 9.30," said Elly. 

Elly said that she had planned to go out to central Paris, the area where restaurants were hit, but had changed her mind and gone home. 

She is now safe in her home in the suburbs off the city. 

"Alhamdulillah... it's quite scary," she said. 

Those living in and around Paris are contacting one another, making sure that everyone they know are fine, she said. 

Elly also received a barrage of messages on her mobile phone from concerned loved ones in Europe and Malaysia. 

"My friends here are OK. I've gotten messages from them and they are fine," she said. 

According to her, those in Paris had spent hours glued to the television to monitor updates on the attacks. 

Gunmen and bombers attacked restaurants, a concert hall and a sports stadium at locations across Paris on Friday, killing at least 120 people in an unprecedented terrorist attack. 

Gunmen systematically killed nearly 100 people attending a rock concert at the Bataclan music hall. Anti-terrorist commandos eventually launched an assault on the building, killed the gunmen and rescued dozens of shocked survivors. 

Some 40 other people were killed in up to five other attacks in the Paris region, including an apparent double suicide bombing outside the national stadium where 

It is unclear if any gunmen are still on the loose.