Pitt students safe after Paris attacks

Four Pitt students studying abroad in France are alive and unhurt after Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris, the University Study Abroad Office confirmed Sunday.

On Friday, Nov. 13, eight terrorists in three groups conducted an organized massacre in Paris at a concert at Le Bataclan, outside a soccer game at the Stade de France and at two cafes. The attacks, which French President François Hollande called “an act of war,” have left 129 people dead and 352 injured. In a statement Pitt’s Study Abroad Office issued Sunday morning, the office said it was “saddened by the loss of life” in France, and that it had heard from all four students studying in France, who said they were safe and unharmed.

Three of the students were in Paris at the time of the attack and one was elsewhere in France. The Study Abroad Office did not name the four students, and Pitt spokesperson Ken Service did not return request for comment as of press time.

Despite the attacks, the Study Abroad Office said programs in both France and throughout Europe will continue as planned, though the University has told students “to exercise diligence in their personal safety” and follow Pitt’s safety protocols, which include traveling in groups and dressing and acting inconspicuously.

As of Sunday afternoon, seven of the eight suspected gunmen were dead and French police were pursuing the eighth. According to The New York Times, French warplanes struck Islamic State militants, who have claimed responsibility for the attacks, Sunday in Syria.

Pitt students will hold a candlelight vigil on the Cathedral Lawn 8:30 p.m. Monday to show solidarity with the citizens of Paris.