HARROWING footage shows a distressed tourist begging for help in a kebab shop in Paris after she was allegedly gang-raped by five men.
The 25-year-old Australian woman was allegedly attacked after spending Friday night drinking in the bars and clubs around the Moulin Rouge cabaret.
The woman claims she was assaulted by five men at around 5am on Saturday, in the northern Pigalle district.
She managed to escape into the Dounia kebab shop on Boulevard de Clichy before calling the cops.
CCTV footage published by Australian news outlet 7News shows the woman hiding out in the shop as staff try to comfort her.
A man is seen walking in and the women gestures that the man is her attacker.
He approaches the alleged victim and pats her on the back – before a diner is confronts him and he flees the shop.
Cops arrive a few minutes later – as staff and diners rush to help the distraught woman.
The woman was taken to hospital “disoriented and unable to speak a word of French,” witnesses said.
The owner of the kebab shop told 7News the woman could not stop crying – and her dress was damaged.
The woman was reportedly in Paris for the Fete de Musique music festival.
She had spent Friday night drinking in the bars and clubs around the Moulin Rouge cabaret before the men approached her in an unspecified location.
An investigating source said: “She was seen wandering around Pigalle, while in a state of some confusion and distress.
“Staff working in a kebab shop saw that her dress was on backwards when she went inside to seek help.”
Paris Prosecutor’s Office have now launched an investigation and are scouring CCTV in the area.
They said in a statement: “The investigation into the charge of gang rape likely to have been committed on the night of July 19 to 20 has been entrusted to the second judicial police district.”
Alliance Paris Police Union added investigators will “do everything to quickly identify the individuals and bring them to justice”.
The spokesman said: “It is now essential work out exactly what happened on the evening, based on CCTV footage, and other technical evidence.”
The woman was due to fly home on Monday, but she has remained in France to help with the investigation, he added.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson told 7NEWS the Australian Embassy in Paris is “making urgent enquiries with French authorities following reports of an Australian citizen assaulted in Paris”.
Last month, a Brit woman was allegedly gang-raped in central Paris, during the city’s annual street music festival.
The tourist was found crying in the early hours of June 21, after she was attacked close to the Olympia music venue.
She told police she was accosted by “a number of men” and pulled to a secluded area where they raped her and stole her phone.
There have been no arrests in the case – which took place less than two miles from the alleged Pigalle gang-rape.
It comes as Paris is beefing up security ahead of the Olympics which start on Friday.
Paris 2024 is set to become the most guarded Games ever with over 60,000 cops and soldiers, drones, helicopters and a huge increase in AI surveillance all deployed after months of growing safety concerns.
The robust defence system will be headed up by over 45,000 police officers and a huge force of up to 18,000 soldiers.
France’s largest deployment of troops since World War Two aims to keep the 15 million visitors and 10,500 Olympic Games competitors safe.
Alongside the huge security teams a number of aerial units will also be in operation.
Rafale fighter jets, AWACS surveillance flights, Reaper surveillance drones and helicopters with high-level snipers on board will patrol the Paris skies throughout the event.
Security expert Will Geddes told The Sun Paris is “throwing everything from physical, to technical, to psychological operations” to ensure they protect the event.
