4 Facts You Should Know About The Shootings And Explosion In Paris That Killed 120 People

Shootings and explosions were reported in at least 6 locations across the city, including the Stade de France in northern Paris, where 2 suicide attacks and 1 bombing attack took place as the national team played Germany in a friendly football match, The Guardian reported.

There was a mass shooting inside the Bataclan concert venue, where a music concert was being held. The attackers randomly killed innocent people. They had time to reload their weapons at least three times during the attack.

Shootings also took place in restaurants and other sites in the centre of the city. However, the precise figures for the dead and injured are not yet known. According to The Telegraph, it appears to be a coordinated terrorist attack.

“Several armed men came into the concert,” Julien Pierce, a reporter for Europe 1 who was at the Bataclan during the attack, told the BBC. “Two or three men, not wearing masks, came in with what looked like Kalashnikovs and fired blindly on the crowd. It lasted between 10 and 15 minutes. It was extremely violent and there was panic. The attackers had enough time to reload at least three times. They were very young.”

“They said nothing,” Pearce said, describing it as a “bloodbath.”

“They just shot.”

“They shot right into the crowd, shouting Allahu Akba [God is great]” one person who escaped the Bataclan told AFP. Another person who fled the concert venue told AFP they heard someone say, “This is for Syria.”

The Paris police prefect has confirmed that the attackers at the Bataclan rock venue blew themselves up with suicide belts as police closed in, killing four. He said the gunmen first sprayed cafes outside the venue with machine gunfire, then went inside the concert hall and killed more before the assault by security forces.

The prefect, Michel Cadot, said one set of attackers was at the Stade de France, and at nearly the same time the second group attacked within the city. Cadot said all the attackers are believed dead, although authorities are hunting for any possible accomplices, The Guardian reported.

Hollande, in an address to the nation, said he had declared a state of emergency, meaning borders will be closed. "We have to show compassion and solidarity and we also have to show unity and keep our cool. France must be strong and great," he said.

Airports, however, remain open and flights have left the capital, but some airlines, including American Airlines, said they would be delaying flights to Paris. Many, including United, Delta, and Air France KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, were operating normally.

Train services also continue as normal. Eurostar said its services between the UK and France would run as normal on Saturday, but it would allow passengers who no longer wished to travel to change their tickets.

The Paris prefecture of police instructed residents to stay home. The prefecture said via Twitter that people should stay inside "unless there's an absolute necessity."