The nun who managed to escape the clutches of the Islamist terrorist who murdered Father Jacques Hamel as he celebrated Mass at the parish church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray on Tuesday morning has spoken out about the horror she witnessed before managing to escape.
Two men entered the church in a suburb of Rouen, during morning mass at about 09.25 local time (1025 BST). Sister Danielle said that she witnessed the two kill the 86-year-old priest and then deliver a sermon in Arabic at the altar.
"They forced (Fr Hamel) to kneel down and he tried to defend himself, which is when the drama began," she told RMC radio. "I reacted the moment they attacked Jacques. He was on his knees, he almost fell, that's when I fled.
"(The attacker) was busy knifing him so he didn't see me leave. People were screaming. What's more, it was recorded, they recorded themselves. He gave a kind of sermon at the altar in Arabic. It was horrible."
What we know now is that when police arrived they tried to negotiate with the attackers. The terrorists placed three hostages in front of the main door of the church to act as a human shield in a bid to prevent any kind of intervention from the French police that had by now surrounded the church.
Eventually the three at the front door - two nuns and one parishioner - were pushed out of the church with the attackers behind them. It has been confirmed that only one of them had a gun. He charged at police shouting "Allahu akbar" and was shot dead by police, who then shot the second attacker dead.
On investigation police discovered that the backpack of one of the attackers was stuffed with fake explosives.
In Paris, religious leaders in France have made a plea to the government to help protect places of worship from a similar attack. Muslim leader Dalil Boubakeur, rector of Paris's Grand Mosque, said the leaders "deeply desire that our places of worship are the subject of greater [security] focus, a sustained focus", as even "the most humble place of worship" can be subject to an attack.
The Archbishop of Paris, Andre Vingt-Trois, said: "We must not let ourselves get pulled in to Daesh's (Islamis State) political games," he said, adding that the terrorist group wanted "to set children of the same family against each other".
In the UK, Neil Basu, the Metropolitan police’s deputy assistant commissioner, said: “There is no specific intelligence relating to attacks in the UK. "However, as we have seen, Daesh and other terrorist groups have targeted Christian as well as Jewish and other faith groups in the West and beyond.
"Following recent events in France, we are reiterating our protective security advice to Christian places of worship and have circulated specific advice today. We are also taking this opportunity to remind them to review their security arrangements as a precaution. While the threat from terrorism remains unchanged at severe, we urge the public to be vigilant."
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