The firefighters leave the seriously affected victims on stretchers. - T. Gagnepain / 20 Minutes

  • A large security exercise was organized this Wednesday at the Meinau stadium in Strasbourg. More than 800 people were on site.
  • The goal ? Simulate a terrorist attack in order to see the responses of the various services mobilized.
  • We followed the operation ... and unfortunately there are (false) victims.

The alarm has just sounded. Several columns of police, GIGN-style, enter the enclosure of the Meinau stadium. It is only an exercise but all the personnel mobilized, nearly 500 this Wednesday afternoon, act as if. As if a terrorist attack had just occurred in the middle of a match.

It is 2:35 p.m., the policewomen are entering the Meinau stadium. A terrorist attack has just taken place. It is an exercise but they take it very seriously. - T. Gagnepain / 20 Minutes

The scenario ? It takes place on the evening of the RC Strasbourg - FC Metz derby. At the start of the second period, an assailant with a knife killed several people in the East family stand and tried to join the other attackers in the south stand, who brandished guns. They must meet in a VIP lounge, where they will confine themselves with hostages.

Even firefighters are not allowed to enter

The stadium security PC, where police and rescue officers officiate at each real Ligue 1 meeting, have already raised the alarm. In the loudspeakers, messages sound. In English and French. “Please note, for technical reasons, we ask you to leave the building by the nearest exit. "

Police near the stadium waiting for the terrorists to be neutralized - T. Gagnepain / 20 Minutes

The police have now taken over the stands and it is impossible to see what is going on there. Their intervention perimeter is classified as an "exclusion zone" and even rescuers are not allowed to enter it. They will have it about twenty minutes later, also equipped with ballistic equipment and accompanied by police.

The first injured, played by 300 student nurses, have already managed to leave the stadium. Some of them were immediately taken care of by Smur and Red Cross healers. At each match, there are about sixty on site.

The first victims, slightly affected, were able to leave the stadium. They are treated near the stadium. - T. Gagnepain / 20 Minutes

Meanwhile, the firefighters gradually entered the stands, stretchers under their shoulders. Before going back with the first victims. They will then be transported either directly to the hospital for those in absolute emergency, or to an advanced medical post. This was established in the gymnasium which adjoins the Racing training center, a few hundred meters from the stadium.

Two types of victims

Over there it's boiling. Each patient receives a bracelet with a QR code which will allow them to be counted and above all monitored. Doctors are busy on the ground, depending on the severity of the injuries. Survival blankets have been widely distributed and protect the physical victims. Others were shocked by the events. They are hosted in another building a little further. At the "welcome center for those involved", where it will be possible to talk about this ordeal.

At the advanced medical station, it's boiling. The victims are treated. - T. Gagnepain / 20 Minutes

It has now been over two hours since the false attack began and the security operation is completed inside the stadium. Three terrorists were killed and one arrested. The director of cabinet of the prefect of Bas-Rhin, Dominique Schuffenecker, announces "a hundred victims at this hour". Rescuers are still on the job to save them, even if the exercise seems to be over.

The various forces mobilized (police, firefighters, samu) admit it: “There is still a lot to improve but it allowed us to see how we coordinate in a place likely to be affected by mass killing. "

  • Strasbourg
  • Firefighters
  • Samu
  • security
  • Police
  • Terrorist attack
  • RC Strasbourg