At least 128 people have been killed and several others wounded after a shooting and several explosions in Paris on Friday night.
A shooting was reported at a restaurant near the 10th Arrondissement of the city, the AP reports, and there was another explosion in the Stade de France north of the city. At least 10 people in the restaurant have died or are seriously injured, according to a BBC journalist at the scene.
The explosion at the Stade de France appeared to coincide with a national soccer game against Germany, and French President Francoise Hollande was in attendance, according to French cable TV channel iTele. Police have closed Republique and Filles du Calvaire Metro stations. President Hollande has been safely evacuated from the stadium, the AP reports, and is holding an emergency meeting to address the situation.
According to multiple local news outlets and the Associated Press, hostages may have been taken at the Bataclan concert venue.
Officials have not released any information about whether the events were linked.
Deputy Paris Mayor "it's a heavy recollection of what happened in January (C. Hebdo). Now we are struck again. This is harder. I am shaken"
— Bill Neely (@BillNeelyReport) November 13, 2015
Social media posts from purported ISIS supporters could indicate that “there was a group waiting for this, but it could be a group watching,” Chertoff said in an interview with MSNBC Friday night.
“I don’t think we can say this proves anything, but again it supports the idea that it’s terrorism,” Chertoff said.
John Cohen, a former Homeland Security Department counterterrorism coordinator, say the presence of multiple attack scenes at the same time suggested a coordinated effort to “send a message” and raises immediate terror concerns, including for other cities in Europe and potentially the United States as well. He said both Al Qaida and ISIS have relied on the strategy of coordinated attacks in the past.
https://twitter.com/LucieBacon/status/665288371019882497?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
UPDATED
President Francois Hollande is said to have been evacuated from the Stade de France where the French football team are playing German
Gunmen stormed into the Bataclan with Kalashnikovs and started ‘firing blindly into the crowd’.
The killers had to reload their weapons three times as they emptied their magazines into the concert-going crowd.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for more updates.
Agencies/Canadajournal