Friends who foiled 15:17 to Paris train attack 'guided by God'

Americans playing themselves in Clint Eastwood movie ‘were supposed to be there that day’

Three young Americans who are playing themselves in a Clint Eastwood-directed movie about how they foiled a terrorist attack in France say their actions were guided by God.

The 15:17 to Paris, which opens in the US and UK in early February, recounts the dramatic events of 21 August 2015 when the three friends launched themselves at a man carrying an automatic AK47 and other weapons on a crowded train.

The acclaimed actor-director asked the trio to play themselves in the movie, along with others involved in the incident. As well as focusing on the onboard action, the film tells the backstories of the childhood friends who were hailed as heroes.

On the day, Ayoub el-Khazzani, 25, a Moroccan national, allegedly launched the attack shortly after the train, with 500 passengers onboard, crossed into France en route from Brussels to Paris. As well as the assault rifle, he was armed with a pistol, a knife, a hammer and petrol.

Alerted by gunshots during an initial altercation with a passenger, Spencer Stone, then 23 and a medic in the US army, ran down the narrow aisle at Khazzani as the Moroccan lifted his AK47 and took aim. The assault rifle jammed.