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Train gunman's weapon 'may have jammed'

August 22, 2015

A British man who helped overpower a gunman on a French train thinks the attacker's firearm jammed. The assailant, suspected to be a 26-year-old Moroccan, was taken to Paris for interrogation.

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Thalys-Anschlag verhindert Chris Norman
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/V. Mayo

The gunman who opened fire on a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris may have had a weapon malfunction, a British man who helped subdue him said on Saturday.

Business consultant Chris Norman (pictured) heard shots being fired aboard the Thalys intercity service and helped three Americans - including two off-duty servicemen - to overpower the attacker, who France's interior minister said purported to be 26-year-old Moroccan.

The passengers' actions have been widely credited with preventing a large number of casualties in Friday evening's attack, which happened near the border of Belgium and France. Five hundred and fifty-four passengers were on board at the time.

"The attacker started to get his arsenal out as he went from carriage 13 to 12. I don't know why he didn't manage to fire, but I think it's because his weapon jammed," Norman told a press conference.

The 62-year-old said he was scared initially, but when he heard the Americans shouting, he "decided we had more chance of surviving if we worked together. My thought was, 'I'm probably going to die anyway so, let's go. I'd rather die being active,'" he added.

The three men who subdued an attacker on board a train to Paris
The 'train heroes' were given medals by the French town of Arras and will be thanked personally by President Francois Hollande in ParisImage: Getty Images/AFP

A French national who was the first to tackle the assailant, along with the Americans and Norman, were all hailed as heroes by US President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande. They will be received by Hollande at the Elysee Palace in the coming days.

Hollande said in a statement he had spoken with Obama to thank him for the "exemplary conduct of American citizens who stopped an extremely serious attack."

The US nationals are: Air Force serviceman Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and their friend Anthony Sadler. Two people were injured in the attack, including Stone, who was stabbed and required hospital treatment.

The suspect was armed with knives and firearms, including a Kalashnikov-style assault weapon. He boarded the train in Brussels. If the identity he has given French authorities proves to be correct, he is known to both French and Spanish intelligence services and has been linked to radical Islamist movements.

Forensics investigators on the train platform where the Thalys train has stopped
The passengers' actions may have helped prevent carnageImage: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Bonniere

He's now being interrogated by counter-terrorism officials near Paris. Belgium has opened its own anti-terror investigation.

Meanwhile, Belgium ordered regular patrols on its national railway network and said baggage checks would be reinforced.

mm/tj,se (AFP, AP, Reuters)