Paris Attacks Update: Australian teen Emma Parkinson gets phone call from PM as support after tragedy

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has reached out to Emma Grace Parkinson, a Tasmanian teen who was among the wounded in deadly Paris attacks on Friday night.

Parkinson, 19, was at the Bataclan Concert Hall, where 129 people died as a result of terrorist attacks that started around 9:20 p.m. local time. The ISIS has claimed responsibility for the atrocities.

"My call cheered her up a bit but nothing will equal how good she will feel when her mum arrives," PM Turnbull was quoted as saying in this Yahoo News report.

Reports say Parkinson had been living in Germany and was in Paris for a break. Her mother was on her way to Paris as of this writing.

There were other Australians who figured in the attacks: Expat John Leader, 46, and his 12-year-old son Oscar were also at the theatre for The Eagles of Death Metal concert. Leader has been living in France for 15 years now. He has told CNN that he heard one of assailants mentioned Syria, but this man sounded like a French local.

Another Australian, Sophie Doran, 30, from Melbourne, was also at the concert venue. She has told the international media she pretended to be dead under the backs of chairs until the police came.

According to The Wall Street Journal, one of the suspected assailants in the Paris attacks had entered Europe as a migrant from Syria. The report said French investigators found a match for the remains of one of the suicide bombers. It was a Syrian passport used for asylum documentation. The passport holder was registered as a refugee on the Greek island of Leros on Oct. 3.

French President François Hollande has said the attacks were “an act of war.” In a public address, the French leader also said: "We will lead the fight and we will be ruthless.”

Seven extremists carried out the Paris attacks which lasted for about 30 minutes. One of them was a 29-year-old French national, as revealed by Paris prosecutor François Molins. (Initial reports said the terror group had eight members.)

In social media sites, an image of peace has gone viral after being posted on Twitter. Simply captioned “Peace for Paris,” the image has drawn over 50,000 retweets.

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