Live updates: Paris 2024 Olympics, train attacks ahead of opening ceremony

Passengers react to threats against the French high-speed train network TGV at the Gare de Bordeaux Saint-Jean station in Bordeaux, France, on Friday, July 26.

Images emerged of hundreds of agitated passengers crowding the platforms of French train stations after a series of attacks brought travel to a standstill just hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games.

Some travelers were eager to return home after passing through the French capital, while others said they had spent their summer vacation preparing for the Olympic Games.

Travelers from Sydney, Australia, wait outside Gare Montparnasse station in Paris trying to find other trains after their journey was affected by rail disruptions.

Francoise, an 80-year-old woman from the coastal town of La Rochelle, told CNN she was trying to get home after receiving medical treatment in Paris.

“We didn’t need a day like this,” she said, adding that she would wait another five hours in the hope of boarding a train.

Just outside Paris, passengers were confused at Gare de Montparnasse, one of the worst-hit stations in western and southwestern France.

Employees of the SNCF railway company talk to passengers waiting for their train to depart at Gare Montparnasse station in Paris.

Virginia and Philip Asante told CNN that they, along with their three children, ages 6 to 11, would support the Canadian soccer team at the Olympics.

“I didn’t know there were disruptions in the queues,” Virginia said. “We might also lose our ticket for tomorrow’s game. … Should we take a bus?”

Since their train was likely to be cancelled, Philip said, the family had been advised to rent a car. “We don’t want our holiday to be ruined.”

People sit on their luggage at the Gare de Lille-Flandres train station in Lille, France.

When asked about the travel chaos, six-year-old Hunter told CNN: “Yes, I’m upset.”

Another passenger, 24-year-old Marguerite, was “bewildered” by the confusion and said she was at the station to change trains before heading home to Brittany in northwest France.

“I don’t know where to go,” she told CNN. “I’m trying to call friends to see where I can sleep tonight. Apparently I have friends here I can sleep with for one night.”

“It’s not their fault (SNCF), but we knew it would be complicated to hold the opening ceremony today.”

Travelers rest in front of the Gare de Bordeaux Saint-Jean train station in Bordeaux, France.