Paris attacks: At least 127 killed at Bataclan and restaurants
Gunmen and bombers attacked busy restaurants, bars
and a concert hall at locations around Paris on Friday evening, killing
dozens of people in what a shaken French President described as an
unprecedented terrorist attack. In the photo, French fire brigade
members aid an injured individual near the Bataclan concert hall
following fatal shootings November 13, 2015. Photo: Reuters
Reuters, Paris
- Multiple gun, bomb attacks in Paris - At least 127 people killed - 80 killed at Bataclan concert hall - France declares national state of emergency - All borders closed
About 80 people were killed in the Bataclan concert hall in central
Paris and 40 others have died in other locations in and around Paris in a
militant attack, an official at Paris City hall said on Saturday.
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Gunmen and bombers attacked busy restaurants, bars and a concert
hall at locations around Paris on Friday evening, killing dozens of
people in what a shaken President Francois Hollande described as an
unprecedented terrorist attack. Black-clad gunmen wielding AK-47s
stormed into the Bataclan concert hall in eastern Paris and fired calmly
and methodically at hundreds of screaming concert-goers, AFP adds. Witnesses
said the attackers shouted "Allahu akbar" ("God is greatest") and
blamed France's military intervention in Syria as they sprayed bullets
into the crowd watching US rock band Eagles of Death Metal.
Four attackers were killed when police stormed the Bataclan, which
lies just 200 metres (yards) from the former offices of Charlie Hebdo
magazine that was targeted in January.
Three of the attackers blew up suicide vests as police launched
their attack, several sources said. The fourth was hit by police fire
and blew up as he fell.
"There
was blood everywhere, corpses everywhere. We heard screaming. Everyone
was trying to flee," said Pierre Janaszak, a radio presenter who
attended the concert and hid with several others at the venue.
"They had 20 hostages, and we could hear them talking with them," said Janaszak.
In the north of the city, at least five people were killed in three
explosions near the Stade de France national stadium where France were
playing Germany in an international football match, security sources
said.
One of the explosions was caused by a suicide bomber, police and witnesses said.
President Francois Hollande was attending the match and had to be hastily evacuated.
A Cambodian restaurant near the concert hall was also attacked, with further deaths reported.
"Terrorist attacks of an unprecedented level are underway across
the Paris region," Hollande said in an emotional televised message.
"It's a horror."
Hollande declared a state of emergency across the entire country and
cancelled his trip to the G20 summit due to take place this weekend in
Turkey.
Prosecutors said at least five attackers had been "neutralised" in total.
Candlelight vigil in Union Square New York City. The world stands united with Paris. God be with Paris pic.twitter.com/PuH3BgYS1o
"We heard so many gunshots and the terrorists were very calm,
very determined," Julien Pearce, a reporter for France's Europe 1
radio, told CNN while the hostage crisis was still underway.
"They reloaded three or four times ... and they didn't shout anything. They didn't say anything."
He said friends were still inside as he spoke.
"They are hiding in some kind of room in the dark and they text(ed)
me, and they are very afraid, of course, and they are waiting for the
police to intervene, but it's been over two hours now and this is
terrible."
Hundreds of police had gathered outside and armed officers eventually
stormed the venue at around 2335 GMT, accompanied by a series of
explosions.
At the Stade de France, spectators flooded the pitch as news of the attacks spread before organisers started evacuations.
'They opened fire'
An extra 1,500 soldiers were mobilised to reinforce police in Paris,
Hollande's office said, while mayor Anne Hidalgo called for residents to
stay home.
US President Barack Obama led a chorus of global condemnation, saying it was "an attack on all of humanity".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission chief
Jean-Claude Juncker said they were "deeply shocked" by the attacks.
France has been on high alert since the attacks in January against Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket that left 17 dead.
Security had begun to be stepped up ahead of key UN climate talks to
be held just outside the French capital from November 30, with border
checks restored from Friday.
More than 500 French fighters are thought to be with Islamic State in
Syria and Iraq, according to official figures, while 250 have returned
and some 750 expressed a desire to go there.
France has joined US-led air strikes on IS targets in Iraq for over a
year and in September began bombing the jihadists in Syria.
