Abdeslam dropped off the three suicide bombers who blew themselves up outside the Stade de France, killing one person. He is thought to have backed out of blowing himself up. An abandoned explosives vest was found in a dustbin in southern Paris close to where mobile phone data placed him on the night of the attacks, although his DNA was not found on it.
CCTV pictures from petrol stations showed him fleeing back to Belgium in the hours after the attack.