Paris attacks: shootings and explosions leave at least 158 dead

At least 158 people have died in Paris in a seemingly coordinated wave of gun and suicide bomb attacks, prompting the French president, François Hollande, to declare a state of emergency and shut the country’s borders.

What seems likely to be the most deadly terrorist attack in Europe since the 2004 train bombings in Madrid, saw gun attacks at a rock concert and two restaurants, along with a series of blasts near the Stade de France, where the national side were playing Germany in an international football match.

Police official told AP two of the incidents near the stadium involved suicide attacks, with three people reported killed.

By far the bloodiest of the incidents on Friday evening saw around 100 people killed at a concert by a US rock group when gunmen opened fire inside the Bataclan concert venue, in the 11th arrondissement. Many people in the crowd were reportedly held hostage before armed police stormed the venue, killing two attackers and revealing the scale of the horror inside.

One concert-goer, Julien Pierce, a journalist from Europe 1 radio, said he saw two or three men armed with Kalashnikov-type rifles burst in mid-day through the concert and begin “shooting blindly at the crowd” for a number of minutes.

Hollande cancelled plans to attend this weekend’s G20 summit in Turkey and convened a cabinet meeting. In a TV address to the nation he said he had declared a state of emergency. 

“This is a terrible ordeal that again assails us,” he said. “We know where it comes from, who these criminals are, who these terrorists are.”

The state of emergency would be in force across France, Hollande said, meaning some place might be closed, and people searched. He continued: “Th second decision I have made is to close the borders. We must ensure that no one enters to commit any crimes and that those who have committed the crimes that we have unfortunately seen can also be arrested if they should leave the territory.” - Read More at the Guardian  - Paris
Paris attacks: shootings and explosions leave at least 158 dead

More than 150 dead after siege at Bataclan concert hall and attacks across Paris – live