Kuyt reflects on Paris attacks: I was at Disneyland in Paris during attack

Dirk Kuyt has revealed he was at Disneyland Paris at the same time terrorists attacked several areas across the French capital.

Over 120 people were killed and a further 99 critically injured in Friday's attacks, with the Stade de France - where Les Bleus took on Germany in a friendly - among one of several targets.

And Kuyt says he was enjoying time with his family when the nation was rocked by the disaster. The Feyenoord attacker's phone was not working, meaning many of his loved ones were in the dark as they sent messages to check he was safe.

"My family knew I was in Paris and they were alarmed, but I could not reply to their messages," he told De Telegraaf. 

"With the phone from my wife Gertrude, I was able to inform the people who are close to me and said that they did not have to worry.

"After the Buffalo Bill show, at the end of the day, Denny Landzaat came up to me - we met by chance at the show. He asked if I had heard of the shootings in Paris. But with the joy and the happiness of the children around me, I really did not realise how big this tragedy was.

"We were very close to where it was - only 20 kilometres - but the exuberant atmosphere in an amusement park still seemed too far away. Only once I got back to the hotel did I see on TV and on the internet that a disaster had occurred. 

"Naturally, our thoughts went out to the families of all the victims."

The amusement park was soon closed because of the attacks, and the 35-year-old says it was difficult to explain the situation to his children.

"We came to the conclusion that we wanted to leave very quickly. I was going to leave on Saturday anyway, while Gertrude would stay with the kids until Sunday night. 

"But driving back to Netherlands and leaving my wife and children behind in France was not an option for me anymore. 

"There was a rumor that all borders were closed. So I thought we could not go back to Netherlands.

"The place was closed because the whole country was in deep mourning and because it is a place where many people come and the management didn't want to take any chances. 

"From our room we looked out at the empty parking lot and the park and there was a very strange atmosphere.

"But how do you explain it to your children who had just had the day of their lives? I told the youngest, Aidan [four], that the theme park closed because Mickey Mouse was sad.

"Noelle, who is 11, had all kinds of questions, but the most important was 'why do people do this? I could not answer."