A musicfan caught up in the most deadly of the Paris terror attacks has described the terrifying moment he fled from the gunmen as they sent bullets flying around a packed concert hall.
Allan Mackenzie nearly tripped over a wounded man as he raced out of the Bataclan covered in blood.
The 29-year-old and a friend had travelled to Paris especially to see the Eagles of Death Metal play.
But just 45 minutes into the show, gunmen stormed inside and began shooting – killing at least 89 rock fans in the worst of the six attacks that hit the French capital on Friday.
Last night, it emerged Iraqi intelligence officials had warned France of an imminent assault by Islamic State on the very day the country was targeted.
And as police issued a wanted notice for one of the men wanted for the killings, Mr Mackenzie described the “chaos” that unfolded as the gunmen stormed the Bataclan theatre.
Mr Mackenzie said the crowd first realised something was wrong when the lights went up and the band stopped playing.
The Aberdeen-born lawyer said: “We were down quite close to the front in the crowd when we thought we heard some fireworks, or firecrackers going off, and then the main lights came on and the band stopped playing.
“And then there was just such confusion, nobody knew what was going on, then everybody realised what was happening and hit the floor.
“The gunmen came in from the back. I lost my friend pretty quickly in the total chaos, me and a few other folk were lying on the ground as they sprayed bullets into the crowds of people.
“A guy got shot just next to me, I got his blood all over me. We were all lying down next to each other, so we couldn’t move. I was covering my head, and this other guy’s head that was next to me.
“At metal gigs, everyone looks out for each other.”
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Armed with automatic rifles, the three gunmen methodically moved through the tightly-packed audience, spraying bullets everywhere.
It is understood that wheelchair users, who were positioned in the disabled area of the concert hall, were targeted one at a time by the terrorists.
Despite the fire exits being covered by hails of gunfire from the attackers, Mr Mackenzie, who now lives in Oslo, saw the opportunity to make a break for it as his best chance for survival.
The former Inverurie Academy pupil, who studied at the Robert Gordon University, said: “We were extremely fortunate to be quite close to the exit, it was like a fire exit, just to the left of the stage.
“I thought I just had to get up. There were a lot of people that just stayed on the floor, but I decided just to go for it and make an escape.
“They were targeting the exit as well, so while I was running this boy next to me got shot, and fell down the stairs and I almost tripped over him – it was just carnage. ”
Miraculously, Mr Mackenzie avoided the storm of bullets and emerged unscathed into the cold Parisian air outside the Bataclan.
“There were people dragging their friends out who had been shot,” he said. “People were bleeding on the street. People were crying, running away, and there were people asking what was happening, it was very chaotic.
“I just ran with some other French people, we jogged for like half a kilometre.
“I called and called, and eventually got through to my friend – it was utter relief just to hear his voice and know that he was OK as well.”
A total of 89 people are known to have died in the concert hall.
The three gunmen spent just under three hours inside, but their reign of terror came to an end when anti-terrorist police stormed the building.
One of the attackers was shot dead by police, and the other two blew themselves up with suicide devices.
Mr Mackenzie said that although a great sense of fear had swept across the city, there is already an atmosphere of normality slowly returning to Paris streets.
Speaking last night before his plane journey home to Oslo, he said: “People are getting on with their lives, you can see people sitting in the cafes having wine and cigarettes again.
“We met a lot of people yesterday who had lost friends and stuff, it’s been a mixture of people feeling very sad, and trying to go about their daily lives.
“We were meant to be going to see Deftones in the same venue on Saturday night.
“It was my mates birthday on Saturday too, so we thought we’re not going to let this deter us.
“So we carried on like we planned and went to the pub, and tried our best to celebrate life.”