Police officers patrol in front of the Louvre Pyramid in Paris on Feb. 4, 2017, a day after a machete-wielding attacker lunged at four French soldiers while shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) in a public area that leads to one of the Louvre Museum’s entrances.
AFP PHOTO
Paris, France — The Louvre reopened its doors Saturday, a day after soldiers outside the Paris museum shot and wounded a machete-wielding attacker, suspected of being an Egyptian national.
The incident on Friday thrust the issue of security back into the limelight three months ahead of elections in France, with authorities saying it was a “terrorist” assault.
It also dealt another blow to Paris’ lucrative tourism industry, which has been badly affected by a string of attacks since 2015.
Saturday morning saw a crowd gathered outside the museum’s main entrance as it began welcoming visitors at 9:30 a.m. (0830 GMT), just 24 hours after the attack.
“I’m quite worried about coming today, but as we weren’t able to visit yesterday, we decided to come back,” 28-year-old Russian visitor Elena Lordugen told AFP.
As usual, soldiers with machine guns could be seen patrolling nearby with museum security staff carrying out routine bag checks.
Ali Tali, a Turkish tourist in his 40s, shrugged off their presence. “We’re used to these security measures in Turkey,” he said.
Investigators say the attacker, who was carrying two machetes and wearing a black T-shirt with a skull design, lunged at four soldiers shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”).
One of soldiers, who was struck on the head, was slightly injured and a second soldier opened fire, hitting the assailant in the stomach and leaving him seriously wounded.
Based on his phone and visa records, he is thought to be a 29-year-old Egyptian national living in the United Arab Emirates, Abdallah El Hamahmy, who entered France legally on a flight from Dubai on Jan. 26.
Held at a Paris hospital overnight, the suspect’s condition stabilized and by Saturday morning it was “no longer life-threatening,” a source close to the case said Saturday.
Investigators from the police counterterrorism unit would begin questioning him on Sunday, the source told AFP./AFP