Paris attacks: how it happened

Paris: A stadium, a concert hall, a succession of cafes and bars around Paris. Attacks on several sites around the French capital left more than 140 people dead on Friday night. Here’s a look at some of the targets:

LE BATACLAN

One of the best-known popular music venues in Paris, the Bataclan attracts a range of bands, and was set to host California-based band Eagles of Death Metal on Friday night. The attackers first sprayed cafes outside the concert hall with machine gunfire, then went inside and opened fire on the panicked audience, according to the Paris police chief.

As police closed in, they detonated suicide vests, killing themselves and setting off explosions. The neighbourhood around the concert hall, like many of the sites targeted, is known for a vibrant nightlife. The club is on Boulevard Voltaire, in a trendy neighbourhood at the intersection of the 10th, 11th and 3rd arrondissements, or city districts.

 STADE DE FRANCE

 Two suicide attacks and a bombing were carried out simultaneously near the national



soccer stadium, where France and Germany were playing an exhibition match. The attacks occurred near two of the stadium entrances and at a nearby McDonald’s restaurant, according to Gregory Goupil of the Alliance Police Nationale, whose region includes the area around the stadium.

French President Francois Hollande, who often attends national matches, was evacuated from the stadium. The 80,000-seat venue was built for the 1998 World Cup.

LA BELLE EQUIPE

The sidewalk terrace of this cafe on Rue de Charonne was showered in gunfire, killing as many as 18 people, according to the Paris prosecutor. Emergency workers covered bodies splayed on the sidewalk of the traditional Parisian cafe, whose name is a play on the expression “Le Belle Epoque.”

LE CARILLON and LE PETIT CAMBODGE

Le Carillon, a bar-cafe, and the nearby Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge were apparently both targeted with gunfire, killing around 14 people and leaving several gravely injured, according to the prosecutor. They are at the junction of Rue Bichat and Rue Alibert

Witnesses described sounds like fireworks, before they realized the gravity of the situation and tried to find a place to hide, or flee.