FRANCE-TRAIN/BRUSSELS-SECURITY Thalys passengers in Brussels "not uncomfortable" after Friday train attack

Record ID: 142711

  • Title: FRANCE-TRAIN/BRUSSELS-SECURITY Thalys passengers in Brussels "not uncomfortable" after Friday train attack
  • Date: 24th August 2015
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (AUGUST 24, 2015) (REUTERS) POLICE ON PLATFORM THALYS TRAIN ENTERING STATION PASSENGERS WALKING TOWARDS EXIT / POLICE ON THE PLATFORM PASSENGERS STEPPING OFF THE TRAIN POLICE OFFICER WALKING ALONG THE PLATFORM WITH PASSENGERS FRENCH POLICE OFFICERS WITH BELGIAN POLICE AMONG THE PASSENGERS POLICE SHAKING HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMERICAN TOURIST FROM TEXAS, MARY HATFIELD, SAYING: "I have been happy to see the security people around and alert. So I'm not uncomfortable. I feel like Europeans have been dealing with this longer than we have in the US. So I feel like you all have it in hand, you know." PASSENGERS GOING DOWN ESCALATORS / POLICE ON PLATFORM BELGIAN POLICE LOOKING AT PASSENGERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMERICAN TOURIST FROM ARKANSAS, MARY JO GRISHAM, SAYING: "I feel very safe but I feel that the security is very subtle. It's very comfortable. It's not invasive and I'm very comfortable. I don't feel threatened anywhere, haven't been at all since arrival." THALYS TRAIN LEAVING FOR AMSTERDAM / POLICE ON THE PLATFORM BELGIAN POLICE ON PLATFORM PASSENGERS POLICE AND TRAIN CONDUCTORS BELGIAN AND FRENCH POLICE ON PLATFORM FRENCH AND BELGIAN POLICE OFFICERS WALKING AWAY NEWSPAPER SHOP AT STATION FLEMISH NEWSPAPER 'HET LAATSTE NIEUWS' WITH HEADLINE READING (Dutch): 'FAILED ATTACK THALYS' NEWSPAPER 'LE SOIR' HEADLINE READING (French): 'TO LIVE WITH THE THREAT' HEADLINE IN NEWSPAPER 'LA DERNIERE HEURE' READING (French): 'BELGIANS, DON'T GIVE IN TO PANIC'
  • Embargoed: 8th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA94PKC8NOIGQP33ZYBN5I01Z3F
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Thalys passengers and tourists at Brussels' Midi station said on Monday (August 24) they didn't feel threatened or uncomfortable following increased security after a shooting on a high speed Amsterdam-to-Paris train last week.
    A 26-year-old Moroccan man was arrested after he was disarmed by three Americans and a British passengers who saw him with an AK-47 assault rifle and a handgun on board the Thalys train on Friday.
    A statement from Thalys said the attacker got on its train in Brussels.
    Travellers in Brussels said they were happy and not uneasy to see the raised vigilance at the station.
    "I have been happy to see the security people around and alert. So I'm not uncomfortable. I feel like Europeans have been dealing with this longer than we have in the US. So I feel like you all have it in hand, you know," said American tourist Mary Hatfield.
    "I feel very safe but I feel that the security is very subtle. It's very comfortable. It's not invasive and I'm very comfortable. I don't feel threatened anywhere, haven't been at all since arrival," said another American tourist Mary Jo Grisham.
    French President Francois Hollande on Monday awarded France's highest honour, the Legion d'honneur, to the three U.S. citizens and the Briton who helped disarm the machine gun-toting suspected Islamist militant.
    Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel also attended the ceremony at the Elysee Palace.
    Hollande said the men's intervention had prevented a "carnage".
    France has been on high alert since January this year when 17 people died in Islamist militant attacks on a satirical newspaper and in a siege in a Jewish shop.
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