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Saturday, 14 November 2015

Reports from the Guardian

Paris attacks: France declares state of emergency after dozens killed – live

• At least 40 people reported to have been killed and scores taken hostage in French capital






There are now multiple images from the scenes in Paris, some of which we’ve collated here.
Luc Peillon, from newspaper Libération, says a number of explosions have been heard inside the Bataclan. A witness, Samia, is currently telling radio station France Info that she is shocked to see that many people are slowly coming out of the building either with their hands above their heads or on stretchers. She adds that the bulk of them are very young, which, she says, makes it very sad to witness.
Updated 

Multiple sources: operation underway at the Bataclan

The AP: Three police officials confirm that security forces have launched an assault on the Paris concert hall where hostages have been taken.
None of the officials could be named when discussing the ongoing operation, which several officials said involved dozens of hostages.
Gérard Araud, French ambassador in the United States, says he is “sad, devastated and anguished for his country”. He tweeted to thank President Obama: “We need all our friends against the horror.”

What we know so far

Claire Phipps 
The news coming out of France is still, understandably, painting a fragmented and confusing picture. Here is what we know so far:
  • A state of emergency has been declared across France, after several dozen people were killed in terrorist attacks around Paris.The number of casualties cannot yet be confirmed, though at least 49 people are so far thought to have died.
  • Shootings took place in a number of locations around the capital, including at least two restaurants and the Bataclan concert hall, withfurther explosions – reported to be two suicide attacks and a bombing – outside the Stade de France, where the national side were playing Germany in a football match.
  • About 100 people have reportedly been taken hostage at Bataclan in the 11th arrondissement, in what is thought to be a coordinated attack. Explosions have been heard at the concert hall, along with reports of mass shootings inside.
  • French president François Hollande has ordered the closing of the country’s borders to prevent the escape of the attackers, who have so far not been apprehended.
  • Hollande said there were “unprecedented terror attacks under way in Paris” and authorities have warned residents to stay inside.
You can share your witness accounts, photos and videos direct with our journalists by clicking here.
Updated 

Police storm the Bataclan - report

Angelique Chrisafis, our reporter in Paris, has been talking to witnesses.
“It was carnage,” said Marc Coupris, 57, still shaking after being freed from the hostage-taking at the Bataclan concert venue. “It looked like a battlefield, there was blood everywhere, there were bodies everywhere. I was at the far side of the hall when shooting began. There seemed to be at least two gunmen. They shot from the balcony. Everyone scrabbled to the ground. I was on the ground with a man on top of me and another one beside me up against a wall. We just stayed still like that. At first we kept quiet. I don’t know how long we stayed like that, it seemed like an eternity. I saw my last final unfurl before me, I thought this was the end. I thought I’m finished, I’m finished. I was terrified. We must all have thought the same. Eventually, when a few gendarmes came in slowly we began to look up and there was blood absolutely everywhere. The police told us to run.”
Coupris, a legal worker, had come from Brittany with 15 friends to see the US band Eagles of Death Metal.
Jérome Boucer, shivering in the cold night wearing a white shirt splattered with the blood of the victims and wounded, said: “The concert had started. I was in the audience and I heard what sounded like a firecracker. It was loud but the gig was very loud and I thought it was something that was part of the show. I think lots of people did, too. Then they started firing. I saw what I thought was at least two people, then I fled. The exits were clearly marked and I just ran. There were wounded, there was a lot of blood. Blood everywhere.”
“It felt like a film,” said a woman in tears. who was part of his group.
“It was horrible, there were so many corpses, I just can’t talk about it,” said a bearded man in a death metal t-shirt as he ran down the street from the Bataclan in shock.
A woman in her twenties in a fur-collared coat had been drinking in a nearby bar when people fleeing the intial shooting at the Bataclan ran into the bar. “They were panicked, wounded, screaming, blood was running all over them. People were having panic attacks; it was horrific.”
The bar locked down but after police allowed it to be open again, she began running down the street towards the 3rd arrondissement to get away as fast as possible. As she and her friends ran, a young man with her in an overcoat and scarf said: “Crazy people did this. They were crazy, religious, crazy.”
Clément, an engineer, had been in a bar not far away which closed its iron shutters and everyone crouched beneath the bar. “Some people in the bar heard shots and the shutters were pulled down. It was Friday night. We were just out with friends for a pastis, as you do on Friday night. The first thing I thought of was the Charlie Hebdo attacks and terrorists. People were really afraid.”
Policemen patrol the streets near the Bataclan concert hall.
 Policemen patrol the streets near the Bataclan concert hall. Photograph: Antoine Antoniol/Getty Images
Updated 
My colleague Fred McConnell has just arrived at the Gare du Lyon - to the south of the Bataclan.
The station was very quiet. No police or staff in sight.
There’s a slight sense of panic on the Métro trains and in the stations, with people rushing about, looking at their phones and families holding hands or carrying children.
Many people seem to have come from the stadium and are still clasping French flags. We saw one father with his young son. The boy looked about five-years-old and had a French scarf and flag. His dad had tears in his eyes, staring straight ahead while marching through the concourse.

Shots and explosions heard at the Bataclan

Reuters says witnesses have told it of five explosions heard near the Bataclan, while shots there were heard live on television.
The AP reports that automatic gunfire and blasts have rung out from the area. Scores of police are surrounding the Bataclan and sirens are wailing all around.
The gunfire began soon after French President François Hollande said security forces were launching an assault on one of several sites targeted in attacks Friday night around Paris.
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