Paris terror attacks: 'People jumped up and literally just ran'

"From the cafe that was beside us people jumped up and literally just ran from their tables, so we ran away as well." Photo / Christian Hartmann / Reuters

A New Zealand man who was caught up in the terrorist attacks in Paris was also living in Boston when it was targeted by bombers in 2013.

Nick Holden came close to securing tickets to the Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan theatre, where at least 89 concertgoers were killed on Friday night local time (Saturday morning NZT).

Instead, he and his wife Jane Man were dining at Au Passage, just around the corner from the Bataclan, when the crisis unfolded.

"From the cafe that was beside us people jumped up and literally just ran from their tables, so we ran away as well."

As well as witnessing the deadliest attack in France since World War II, Mr Holden was living in Boston when brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev set off bombs during the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, followed by a series of related shootings in the days following.

"Luckily we were away with work on the day of the bombings, but we were back when the man-hunt was going on. They shut the city down and the National Guard came in with armoured Humvees and machine guns and stuff.

"I expected to see a similar response in Paris -- I expected to see army trucks and police all around the city, much like it was in Boston after the bombings there. But we just came in a taxi and in a 20 minute drive we saw maybe six police officers, so it really doesn't feel like a city under siege like it did in Boston."

The atmosphere in Paris was one of "shell-shock", Mr Holden said.

"I think yesterday was disbelief and today it's really hit home."

Mr Holden, who arrived in Paris on Monday for a holiday, now lives in London where he was scheduled to return by train tomorrow.

"People asked us immediately after the attacks whether we'd leave Paris and go back to London, but we don't feel like running back to London is necessarily running to safety because risk is probably just as high there as it is here."

Another Kiwi who now calls Paris home, Ainsley Duyvestyn, said she was in shock.

"I think everyone's still feeling quite fragile," she said. "It's definitely going to make it harder to feel safe here but it's somewhere that I've chosen to make home.

"This could have happened anywhere in Europe, really, so it doesn't impact my decision to live here. I still love it here, but it's going to change things a little bit I think."