Paris Attacks - Community Update Post

Paris Attacks:

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  • Shootings, bomb blasts, and hostage sieges in Paris, France have left more than 150 people dead, and 180 wounded. About 80 are in critical condition. Six locations were targeted.

  • Those places are as follows:

  • La Castra Nostra

  • Stade de France

  • Bataclan Concert Hall

  • Belle Equipe Bar

  • Petit Cambodge Restaurant

  • Le Carillon Bar

Summary of Atttacks:

21:20 (20:20 GMT) Rue Alibert attacks Le Carillon The attacks erupted at about 21:20 in popular nightlife spots in the 10th district (arrondissement) of the capital, not far from the Place de la Republique. At about the same time, an explosion was heard outside the Stade de France, where the French and German national football teams were playing, before a capacity crowd (see below). First reports of gunfire came from Le Carillon bar, at 18 rue Alibert. Witnesses initially thought a firecracker had gone off until people realised that a masked man was opening fire with a semi-automatic gun. One witness described a man getting out of a car with a heavy calibre weapon. He was not wearing any mask. "People dropped to the ground. We put a table over our heads to protect us," said Ben Grant, who was with his wife at the back of the bar.

Le Petit Cambodge Witnesses then describe how the man then crossed the road and turned his gun on a restaurant, Le Petit Cambodge (Little Cambodia). The gunman killed at least 12 people in his attack on the bar and restaurant. Minutes later, a shooting was reported not far away, near the popular Canal St Martin. Reports said a car was left riddled with bullets and a motorbike abandoned on the ground.

Le Petit Cambodge Witnesses then describe how the man then crossed the road and turned his gun on a restaurant, Le Petit Cambodge (Little Cambodia). The gunman killed at least 12 people in his attack on the bar and restaurant.

Then came an attack on diners a few streets south of rue Alibert, on the terrace of La Casa Nostra pizzeria, in rue de la Fontaine au Roi. Witnesses described seeing a man firing a machine-gun. "There were at least five bodies around me and blood everywhere," a man in his 30s told French media.

On the northern fringe of Paris, France were playing Germany at the Stade de France stadium, in an international football friendly seen as a big game ahead of the Euro 2016 football championships in France. The game was being broadcast on TF1, one of the main national TV channels. President Hollande was there.

About half an hour after kick-off, the first of three explosions was heard. They were audible within the stadium - after the second one the president was immediately rushed to safety. It was later established that three suicide bombers had blown themselves up at two fast food outlets and a brasserie near the stadium. It is the first time France has experienced such bombings, French media say. At one point, a section of the crowd spilled on to the pitch in panic. After the match, which France won 2-0, players watched events unfold on monitors in the tunnel.

The next reports of shootings came to the south of the first restaurant attacks, at La Belle Equipe bar in the rue de Charonne in the 11th district. Two men were seen opening fire, spraying bullets at the terrace of the cafe.

"It lasted at least three minutes," one witness said. "Then they got back in their car and headed towards Charonne station."

There were appalling scenes outside the bar, with bodies all over the floor. One women covered in blood was hugged by a passer-by as emergency services arrived to help the wounded. At least 19 people died in the shooting.

The deadliest attack of the night came at a well-known concert venue in Boulevard Voltaire in the 11th district, where Californian rock group Eagles of Death Metal was playing. The 1,500-seat Bataclan hall was sold out.

Witnesses said four attackers stormed inside from the back, and fired several bursts at the crowd, with Kalashnikov assault rifles. Later, French media reported that at least 82 people had died there.

One of the attackers was said to have shouted "God is great" in Arabic. One witness heard a gunman blaming President Hollande for intervening in Syria. It was the first clear evidence that Paris was once again being targeted by Islamists.

"We thought it was fireworks but finally there were men shooting in all directions. So we all lay on the floor and started crawling towards the stage," one woman said. A hostage crisis had now begun.

Shortly before midnight he gave a live address on national TV announcing a state of emergency throughout France and a tightening of border controls. The order was then given to send elite security forces into the concert hall. The siege ended when three of the gunmen blew themselves up with suicide belts and the fourth was shot dead. After fleeing, Julien Pearce, a Europe 1 radio reporter who witnessed the carnage, said terrified fans had tried to reach the stage by clambering over others cowering on the floor, but the attackers had gunned them down. Pearce said he saw one gunman clearly - a calm youth, without any mask, and a blank expression on his face. Pearce and others managed to flee while the gunmen were reloading their Kalashnikovs. Other attacks were reported during the evening, including one on the Boulevard de Beaumarchais close to the Bastille.

Gunmen:

Police say there were eight attackers and all of them died: Three blew themselves up and a fourth was shot by police at the Bataclan venue at the end of the concert siege Another blew himself up a short distance away from the concert hall on the Boulevard Voltaire Three more blew themselves up at eating places near the Stade de France But the search for potential accomplices continues. The string of gun and bomb attacks was clearly co-ordinated and involved more men than the three who took part in the January attacks, which claimed the lives of 18 people in Paris. The city has issued an emergency hotline for information: 0800 40 60 05.

Timeline/Chronology:

  • 21:20 - First explosion near Stade de France

  • 21:25 - Shooting at Le Carillon bar and Le Petit Cambodge restaurant, rue Bichat

  • 21:29 - More shooting in same area, avenue de la Republique

  • 21:30 - Second explosion near Stade de France

  • 21:38 - Shooting at La Belle Equipe bar, rue de Charonne

  • 21:43 - Explosion at boulevard Voltaire, near Bataclan concert hall

  • 21:49 - Shooting at Bataclan, then explosions

  • 21:53 - Third explosion at Stade de France

  • 22:00 - Shooting at boulevard Beaumarchais, near Bataclan Source: Police, quoted by LeJDD news website

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