Paris attacks: France declares state of emergency after dozens killed
UK GUARDIAN --- At least 49 people have died and up to 60 people have been injured in an apparently coordinated series of gun and bomb attacks in Paris.
About 100 people have reportedly been taken hostage at a theatre after the French capital was hit by a series of attacks.
Declaring a state of emergency and closing the country’s borders, the French president, FranÇois Hollande, said there were “unprecedented terror attacks under way in Paris” and called an emergency cabinet meeting. Authorities in Paris warned people to leave public events and stay in doors if possible.
Officials said shots were fired in at least two restaurants and at least two explosions were heard near the Stade de France stadium, where the national side were playing Germany in a football match.
A police official told AP that two of the incidents near the stadium involved suicide attacks.
Around the same time, another shootout took place near the Bataclan concert theatre in the neighbouring 11th arrondissement, close to where the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper took place in January.
Hollande said later that security forces were mounting an operation in Paris, with reports saying police had stormed the concert hall. Witnesses said some of those inside the building could be seen fleeing.
The events brought immediate international condemnation, with the US president, Barack Obama, calling it “an attack on all of humanity and the universal values we share”.
French media reported at least 49 people confirmed dead, although some reports suggested there may be as many as 60. About 35 of the victims were reported to have been killed at the Bataclan concert hall, with French TV saying up to two gunmen began firing during a concert by the US rock band Eagles of Death Metal.
Citing French police, AFP reports that three people were also killed in an explosion outside the Stade de France. Crowds spilled into the field after the blasts were heard, and the PA announcer asked people to avoid certain exits.