60 reported killed; hostage situation ongoing
60 reported killed; hostage situation ongoing
Dozens of people are reported dead after a series of what appear to be coordinated attacks across Paris late Friday. A hostage situation is continuing at a concert hall. CNN will update this story as information comes in:
[Latest developments, posted at 6:25 p.m. ET]
• One of the explosions at the Stade de France outside Paris appears to be a suicide bombing, a Western intelligence source receiving direct intelligence from the scene told CNN’s Deb Feyerick. A dismembered body, consistent with the aftermath of an explosion from that type of device, was found at the scene, the source said.
• Traffic on several subway lines has been interrupted following the attacks, the Paris police prefecture reported.
• At this hour, there is no credible or specific threat in the United States, according to a U.S. government official.
• French President Francois 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.
• The Paris prefecture of police is instructing residents to stay home. The prefecture said via Twitter that people should stay inside “unless there’s an absolute necessity.”
• French authorities have launched a terrorism investigation, Eric Pelletier, a reporter with Le Pariesien, tells CNN Paul Cruickshank. There has been no official claim of responsibility, though ISIS has applauded the attacks on Twitter, Cruickshank reports.
• “This is an attack not just on Paris, not just on the people on France, but an attack on all humanity and the universal values we share,” U.S. President Barack Obama said at the White House. He called the attacks an “outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians.”
• At least 60 people have died in the attacks, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported.
• At least six shootings took place in Paris and three explosions took place at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis late Friday, CNN affiliate BFMTV said. Two or three gunmen entered the Bataclan concert hall while opening fire on law enforcement, BFMTV reported. A source earlier told CNN there were six to eight hostage takers, citing a person they were talking to inside the venue.
• Paris police tell CNN there were three attacks. Attackers reportedly used AK-47 automatic weapons.
• A CNN producer who is at the Bataclan says that police are firing at a rooftop position near the venue.
• Hollande was evacuated at halftime of the France-Germany soccer match.
• Hollande, Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve are holding a crisis meeting at the Interior Ministry to address the attacks in Paris and the explosions in Saint-Denis, according to BFMTV.
• Counterterrorism officials around the United States have convened secure conference calls to try to gather information and to assess whether there is any indication of threats in the U.S, according to two U.S. counterterrorism officials. Immediate suspicion for the events in Paris falls to so-called returnees — people who have traveled to Syria and Iraq and have returned, the officials said.
[Original story, published 4:48 p.m. ET]
At least 18 people were killed in shootings in central Paris late Friday, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported.
The network reported there was a hostage situation at one of the three sites where shootings took place. BFMTV said the ongoing hostage situation was at a theater named Bataclan.
There was a lockdown at the Stade de France due to possible explosions, according to French media. President Francois Hollande was at the stadium, watching France playing world champions Germany in a friendly soccer match, but he left to go to the Interior Ministry.
Police were outside the scene of one of the shootings, a restaurant in the 10th District.
A witness told BFMTV that firefighters were on the scene to treat the injured.
In early January of this year, two gunmen attacked the Paris offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 and wounding 11.
Said and Cherif Kouachi wanted to punish the magazine for the publication of cartoons that they believed mocked the Prophet Mohammed. The Kouachi brothers two days later were shot and killed in a standoff with police in Dammartin-en-Goele.
Amedy Coulibaly, an associate of Said and Cherif Kouachi, attacked a Jewish grocery store in Paris, taking more than a dozen people hostage and killing four. Coulibaly had killed a policewoman the day before, on January 8. Coulibaly was killed when police stormed the kosher market.