France Closes Borders After Dozens Killed in Paris
Source: newsweek.com
French riot police secure the area near the Bataclan concert hall following a fatal shooting at a restaurant in Paris, France on November 13.
France has closed its borders after dozens were killed in a series of simultaneous attacks in Paris on Friday night.
In what United States security officials reportedly believe were coordinated attacks, a man gunned down several people after opening fire with an automatic weapon at a Paris restaurant, explosions went off near a major stadium in the city and a hostage situation has begun at a major concert hall.
French President Francois Hollande closed the country's borders about an hour after the attack and called a state of emergency. French cabinet officials will meet later on Friday evening.
“What terrorists want is to make us afraid, to seize us with fear,” Hollande said at a press conference. “There is something to be afraid of but faced with this fear that’s a nation that defends itself and mobilizes itself and once again we'll be able to overcome the terrorists.”
Policesaid that 35 people have been killed and 60 more injured in the attacks. Eleven were killed in the restaurant in the 10th arrondissement, and over 20 were killed elsewhere, including at the Bataclan theater, where around 100 people are being held hostage, the Associated Press is reporting.
According to the French newspaper Liberation, shootings have occurred in Paris' 10th and 11th arrondissements, including at the bar Le Carillon. The BBC reported 10 people on the road either dead or seriously injured outside the Cambodge restaurant in the 11th district.
At the same time, an explosion was reported at a bar near Stade de France, where France's soccer team is hosting Germany. A second explosion was reported moments later, according to the Associated Press. French President Francois Hollande, who was watching the soccer match, was evacuated.
“I saw five bodies on the ground covered in a white sheet. I saw two more people lying on the ground with the emergency services trying to resuscitate them,” Sabien Caron, 15, who lives nearby the restaurant where the shooting occurred tells Newsweek. It’s a very calm neighborhood and nothing like this has ever happened before."
Eyewitnesses told the Telegraph hostages were taken at a Bataclan club nearby the former Charlie Hebdo offices. According to the Associated Press, as many as 100 hostages were taken.
Read the rest: newsweek.com
