Extraordinary Photos: Inside the freezer the hostages hid in Paris #KosherDeli

No one can fathom the trauma these people would have gone through!
Huddled together for warmth amid cardboard boxes of food, these pictures show terrified shoppers hiding in a freezer during the armed siege of the Kosher deli in Paris.

One woman is seen cradling her child, while in another image a hostage sends a text message to a loved one.

Above them crazed fanatic Amedy Coulibaly was in a standoff with police, having stormed the Hyper Cacher in the Porte de Vincennes area of the city, taking 19 hostages and shooting three of them dead on the spot.

Hearing shots, shoppers at the back of the store fled downstairs to the storeroom where they huddled together in temperatures of -3C (27F). Fearing they would not escape alive, they made what they believed would be their last calls to family to tell them they loved them.

One man, known only as Ilan, was with his young son and quickly removed his jacket and wrapped him in it as they cowered in freezer for nearly five hours.

The pictures from inside the storeroom were made public as the hostages came forward to give dramatic accounts of their ordeal on Friday.

Stories of incredible bravery and heroism emerged, including that of 22 year-old store worker Yohan Cohen, who was executed by Coulibaly when he tried to grab the fanatic’s gun, and Lassana Bathily who ushered the shoppers to the freezer, undoubtedly saving their lives.

Mr Bathily, a Muslim of Malian descent, guided the terrified group of men, women and at least two young children, to the walk-in freezer in the basement.

He said: ‘I turned off the lights and the fridge. I closed the door and told them to keep quiet.’ Mr Bathily then slipped away using a goods lift and was able to provide police with valuable information about what has happening inside the store.

Final words: Hostages quietly huddled around cardboard boxes, some texting goodbye messages to family they feared they would never see again. One of the trapped hostages even managed to joke: 'We’ll open a bottle of wine. Here, there are plenty'