PARIS – A French police official says at least 100 people have been killed inside a Paris concert hall where attackers seized hostages. The hostage-taking was one in a series of at least six attacks across the French capital.
The Paris prosecutor said the death toll from the attacks could exceed 120. He also said at least five terrorists were killed in the attacks around the city.
French President François Hollande announced that he was closing the country’s borders and declaring a state of emergency.
Hollande formally declared the state of emergency on all mainland territory and Corsica during a Cabinet meeting urgently summoned at the Elysee palace on Friday night.
The state of emergency allows state authorities to forbid the movement of persons and vehicles at specific times and places. They can also define protected areas and safety areas where the movement of persons is controlled.
The state of emergency also allows police to perform house searches day and night instead of performing them only at daylight.
Dozens of people died in shootings and explosions at multiple sites, many of them in a popular concert hall where patrons were taken hostage, police and medical officials said. The series of attacks gripped the city in fear and recalled the horrors of the Charlie Hebdo carnage just 10 months ago.
A police official said 11 people were killed in a Paris restaurant in the 10th arrondissement, and other police officials said at least 100 died in the Bataclan music venue, where the hostages were taken.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the series of attacks.
Twitter accounts linked to jihadists celebrated the attacks in Paris.
According to the SITE Intelligence Group tracking militant sites, Twitter posts attributed to jihadist supporters are speculating which group may be responsible.
They used Arabic-language hashtags that translated to “Paris on fire” and “Caliphate state strikes France.”
Hollande, in a televised address, said the nation would stand firm and united against the attackers.
Also late Friday, two explosions went off outside the Stade de France stadium north of Paris during a France-Germany friendly football match. Police said at least three died in the explosions.
An Associated Press reporter in the stadium Friday night heard two explosions loud enough to penetrate the sounds of cheering fans. Hollande, who was in the stadium, was evacuated to an emergency meeting.
The attack comes as France has heightened security measures ahead of a major global climate conference that starts in two weeks, out of fear of violent protests and potential terrorist attacks.
Emilio Macchio, from Ravenna, Italy, was at the Carillon bar near the restaurant that was targeted, having a beer on the sidewalk, when the shooting started. He said he didn’t see any gunmen or victims, but hid behind a corner, then ran away.
“It sounded like fireworks,” he said.
France has been on edge since deadly attacks by Islamic extremists in January on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery that left 20 dead, including the three attackers.
One of at least two restaurants targeted Friday, Le Carillon, is in the same general neighborhood as the Charlie Hebdo offices, as is the Bataclan, among the best-known venues in eastern Paris, near the trendy Oberkampf area known for a vibrant nightlife. The California-based band Eagles of Death Metal was playing there Friday night.
The country has seen several smaller-scale attacks or attempts since, including an incident on a high-speed train in August in which American travelers thwarted an attempted attack by a heavily armed man.
France’s military is bombing Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq and fighting extremists in Africa, and extremist groups have frequently threatened France in the past.
French authorities are particularly concerned about the threat from hundreds of French Islamic radicals who have travelled to Syria and returned home with skills to stage violence.
AP writers Greg Keller, Jerome Pugmire, Samuel Petrequin and Jamey Keaten contributed to this story.
