Oklahomans In Paris Reported Safe, Now Sharing Stories

Our city lights the SkyDance Bridge in solidarity with Paris, France this weekend after tragedy unfolded Friday. In the meantime, the Oklahomans who were overseas during the attacks are letting everyone at home know they're safe.

A spokesman for the University of Oklahoma said five students are studying abroad in Paris this semester. They are all accounted for and safe. There are also Oklahoma State University students studying abroad in France, but not in Paris. On social media, OSU officials said the students are OK.

Along with the students studying abroad, a band out of Stillwater called 'Other Lives' said on Facebook they were in Paris, but everyone was safe.
The post said, "Words cannot describe this atrocity. All of our thoughts are with the people in France."

And it appears a woman from Edmond was also there on vacation when all of this was happening. "I came here for Paris, it's been my lifelong dream," Angela Martzall said in a video.

Her tour group was able to leave this weekend and they went to Switzerland after a very eventful time in Paris, she said.

"We had a lot of near misses. We were really close to the concert hall, we passed the soccer hall, we went on the trains minutes before they shut them down for awhile, so we're lucky and we're happy that we're safe," she added.
 
Back here in Oklahoma, local leaders of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) planned a prayer vigil and condemned the terror that took place. "Islam is a beautiful religion and it's really sad that a handful of extremists continue to adulter the beauty of the religion and use it for evil purposes," Adam Soltani, Executive Director of CAIR said Saturday.

And as part of their efforts to continue to educate and urge peace, they'll hold an interfaith prayer vigil Sunday. It's at 3840 N. St. Clair in Oklahoma City at 6:30 p.m.