Corinne Rey was forced to enter a key code then watched in horror as they shot her colleagues Jean Cabut and Georges Wolinski
A survivor of the Charlie Hebdo massacre told how she was threatened by two of the gunmen before watching from under a desk as they murdered her colleagues.
Corinne Rey, 32, arrived at the magazine’s office with her daughter at the same time as the terrorists.
The masked men threatened the illustrator at gunpoint and forced her to enter a key code to open the door to the building.
She then watched in horror as they shot her colleagues Jean Cabut – known as Cabu – and Georges Wolinski during an editorial meeting.
Traumatised Corinne, who draws for the magazine under the name of Coco, said the attackers boasted they were al-Qaeda members.
She told newspaper L’Humanite: “I had gone to pick up my daughter at day care, arriving in front of the building, where two masked and armed men brutally threatened us.
“They said they wanted to go up to the offices, so I tapped in the code.”
Corinne lay under her desk and shielded her terrified daughter. Dozens of shots rang out as the terrorists executed her colleagues.
“They fired on Wolinski, Cabu,” she said. “It lasted five minutes. I sheltered under my desk. They spoke perfect French and claimed to be from al-Qaeda.”
Another Charlie Hebdo cartoonist, Renald Luzier, escaped the massacre because he slept through his morning alarm. His wife raced to the scene after hearing about the attack on TV and burst into tears when she discovered he was safe and well.
She said: “My husband and I woke up half an hour later than expected. So he arrived after the shooting. I know he’s OK, but it frightens me terribly.”
A witness described hearing a “huge boom” before one of the gunmen opened the door to her office across the corridor from Charlie Hebdo and asked where the magazine was.
“He had a rifle,” said the worker. “We backed away. After he left, we heard gunfire. We went to the windows. There were two men running with guns, speaking in bad French.
"They were shouting outside and shooting again. Afterwards I saw someone leaving the building with his hands covered in blood.”
Benoit Bringer, who works at the Premiere Ligne press agency on the same floor as the magazine, told French radio: “We heard shouting in the street. We saw hooded men carrying Kalashnikovs entering the building. We called the police.
"After a few minutes we heard heavy firing – a lot of firing, a hell of a lot.
“We went upstairs to take shelter on the roof. Then after about 10 minutes we saw two armed men come out on to the street. There was more shouting, more firing.
"Three policemen had arrived on bikes but had to leave because the men were armed, obviously. Then the attackers took off in a car.”
Florence Pouvil, a sales assistant who works opposite Charlie Hebdo, witnessed the moment the gunmen broke in.
She said: “I saw two people with big guns, like Kalashnikovs, outside our office and then we heard firing. There were two guys who came out of the building and shot everywhere.
“We hid on the floor, we were terrified. They weren’t just firing inside the Charlie Hebdo offices. They were firing in the street too.
“We feared for our lives so we hid under our desks so they wouldn’t see us.
“Both men were dressed in black from head to toe and their faces were covered so I didn’t see them.
“They were wearing military clothes, like they were soldiers.”
A rescuer who tried to save wounded employees said: “When I got there it smelt of gunpowder. With my colleagues we helped emergency services.
"It was an extremely violent scene, several rooms with bodies on the floor, pools of blood, critically injured people.”
A shaken worker in the building added: “When we went out we saw blood on the stairs. A lot of blood.”
One worker saw paramedics desperately trying to save an injured police officer on the road outside her office.
“It was ghastly, awful,” she said. “We knew it was serious because they weren’t even trying to take him away to hospital. They were just trying to save him right there in the street.”
A man who lives nearby described hearing more than 30 shots during the attack. He said: “I heard the first burst as the attack commenced. Around 12 shots were fired. I thought they were firecrackers.
"Five or six minutes later I heard a second volley, this time 20 shots.”
Another witness said: “There was loud gunfire and an explosion. Once police arrived there was a mass shoot-out.”
Gilles Boulanger, who works in the same building as the Charlie Hebdo offices, said: “A neighbour called to warn me that there were armed men in the building and that we had to shut all the doors.
"Minutes later there were several shots heard in the building from automatic weapons firing in all directions.
“Then we looked out of the window and saw the shooting was on Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, with the police. You’d think it was a war zone.”
A vigil began in Paris at 5pm, but similar scenes were repeated all around France and across the globe as people paused to remember those who lost their lives in the atrocity.
A survivor of the Charlie Hebdo massacre told how she was threatened by two of the gunmen before watching from under a desk as they murdered her colleagues.
Corinne Rey, 32, arrived at the magazine’s office with her daughter at the same time as the terrorists.
The masked men threatened the illustrator at gunpoint and forced her to enter a key code to open the door to the building.
She then watched in horror as they shot her colleagues Jean Cabut – known as Cabu – and Georges Wolinski during an editorial meeting.
Traumatised Corinne, who draws for the magazine under the name of Coco, said the attackers boasted they were al-Qaeda members.
She told newspaper L’Humanite: “I had gone to pick up my daughter at day care, arriving in front of the building, where two masked and armed men brutally threatened us.
“They said they wanted to go up to the offices, so I tapped in the code.”
Corinne lay under her desk and shielded her terrified daughter. Dozens of shots rang out as the terrorists executed her colleagues.
“They fired on Wolinski, Cabu,” she said. “It lasted five minutes. I sheltered under my desk. They spoke perfect French and claimed to be from al-Qaeda.”
Another Charlie Hebdo cartoonist, Renald Luzier, escaped the massacre because he slept through his morning alarm. His wife raced to the scene after hearing about the attack on TV and burst into tears when she discovered he was safe and well.
She said: “My husband and I woke up half an hour later than expected. So he arrived after the shooting. I know he’s OK, but it frightens me terribly.”
A witness described hearing a “huge boom” before one of the gunmen opened the door to her office across the corridor from Charlie Hebdo and asked where the magazine was.
“He had a rifle,” said the worker. “We backed away. After he left, we heard gunfire. We went to the windows. There were two men running with guns, speaking in bad French.
"They were shouting outside and shooting again. Afterwards I saw someone leaving the building with his hands covered in blood.”
Benoit Bringer, who works at the Premiere Ligne press agency on the same floor as the magazine, told French radio: “We heard shouting in the street. We saw hooded men carrying Kalashnikovs entering the building. We called the police.
"After a few minutes we heard heavy firing – a lot of firing, a hell of a lot.
“We went upstairs to take shelter on the roof. Then after about 10 minutes we saw two armed men come out on to the street. There was more shouting, more firing.
"Three policemen had arrived on bikes but had to leave because the men were armed, obviously. Then the attackers took off in a car.”
Florence Pouvil, a sales assistant who works opposite Charlie Hebdo, witnessed the moment the gunmen broke in.
She said: “I saw two people with big guns, like Kalashnikovs, outside our office and then we heard firing. There were two guys who came out of the building and shot everywhere.
“We hid on the floor, we were terrified. They weren’t just firing inside the Charlie Hebdo offices. They were firing in the street too.
“We feared for our lives so we hid under our desks so they wouldn’t see us.
“Both men were dressed in black from head to toe and their faces were covered so I didn’t see them.
“They were wearing military clothes, like they were soldiers.”
A rescuer who tried to save wounded employees said: “When I got there it smelt of gunpowder. With my colleagues we helped emergency services.
"It was an extremely violent scene, several rooms with bodies on the floor, pools of blood, critically injured people.”
A shaken worker in the building added: “When we went out we saw blood on the stairs. A lot of blood.”
One worker saw paramedics desperately trying to save an injured police officer on the road outside her office.
“It was ghastly, awful,” she said. “We knew it was serious because they weren’t even trying to take him away to hospital. They were just trying to save him right there in the street.”
A man who lives nearby described hearing more than 30 shots during the attack. He said: “I heard the first burst as the attack commenced. Around 12 shots were fired. I thought they were firecrackers.
"Five or six minutes later I heard a second volley, this time 20 shots.”
Another witness said: “There was loud gunfire and an explosion. Once police arrived there was a mass shoot-out.”
Gilles Boulanger, who works in the same building as the Charlie Hebdo offices, said: “A neighbour called to warn me that there were armed men in the building and that we had to shut all the doors.
"Minutes later there were several shots heard in the building from automatic weapons firing in all directions.
“Then we looked out of the window and saw the shooting was on Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, with the police. You’d think it was a war zone.”
A vigil began in Paris at 5pm, but similar scenes were repeated all around France and across the globe as people paused to remember those who lost their lives in the atrocity.
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