Following deadly attacks, Study Abroad Office says all NU students studying in Paris safe

Medics+stand+by+victims+in+a+Paris+restaurant+on+Nov.+13%2C+2015%2C+after+a+reported+shootout.

Maxppp/Zuma Press/TNS

Medics stand by victims in a Paris restaurant on Nov. 13, 2015, after a reported shootout.

Alice Yin, Campus Editor

Update: All undergraduate students studying abroad in Paris are safe and accounted for, the Northwestern Study Abroad Office announced in a post on its website.

 

Original story: Northwestern’s Study Abroad Office is waiting for information on the safety of its students studying abroad in Paris after what French President François Hollande called “unprecedented” terrorist attacks, which left more than 100 dead Friday.

The Study Abroad Office awaits word from its program partners in Paris, assistant director Jessica Fetridge said. Some programs have already reached out to NU’s Study Abroad Office confirming that all students are accounted for, while others have yet to respond, she said.

“We are working with our programs right now to determine the safety of all our students.” Fetridge said. “We don’t have an update, but we’re working on accounting all of them right now.”

The New York Times reported that the casualties resulted from at least six attacks that were likely coordinated. All assailants have been killed, Paris police head Michel Cadot told reporters. The attack appears to be the second deadliest in a Western city since 9/11, according to counterterrorism intelligence group IntelCenter.

At least one NU student studying abroad was at the scene of one of the attacks Friday. Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera tearfully revealed on air that his daughter, Weinberg junior Simone Rivera, was at the Stade de France stadium with her friends and managed to escape the three explosions at the site. He said his daughter had been stranded with the rest of the audience outside the stadium, which he said was about four miles from her apartment.

“My daughter Simone told me she heard the three explosions near halftime,” he said on air. “This is a terrifying, military-scale attack. … You can imagine what it was like for us as parents waiting for her to communicate with us.”

Geraldo Rivera later tweeted a confirmation that his daughter was safe after a friend gave her a ride home.

Fetridge said she is unsure when the office will be able to account for all students abroad in Paris this quarter and declined to release the names of the programs that have already confirmed their students’ safety.

“We are aware of the multiple incidents in Paris, France, and are working very closely with our program partners and sponsors to determine our students’ well-being and provide access to resources and services,” the NU Study Abroad Office wrote in a post on its website Friday.

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