Muslim employee of kosher market hid people in freezer

A Muslim employee of the kosher market in Paris, where Amedy Coulibaly killed four people and held others hostage, helped hide several people and baby in a freezer downstairs as the seven-hour siege began.

Lassana Bathily, 24, tells Metronews, that his knowledge of the store and a cool head helped him act quickly to lead a number of people downstairs and conceal them from the gunman.

It is not clear how many people hid in the freezer, with some reports saying six people and other saying over a dozen.

Malian Muslim employee Lassana Bathily – hid over a dozen hostages at the Paris kosher supermarket saving their lives pic.twitter.com/XhcKHF9qzf

— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) January 10, 2015

“I opened the door of the freezer and a number of people went inside, I turned off the lights and the freezer,” he tells the newspaper.

Bathily says he told the shoppers to stay calm, closed the door and managed to flee the store using an elevator. He was then able to tell security forces about the people hiding in the freezer.

Later, when the siege was over, he says people came over to congratulate and thank him.