Eiffel Tower closed indefinitely following terror strike in Paris: All you need to know about the attack

Paris: An ordinary Friday night in cool Paris turned into a bloodbath when terrorists executed a series of attacks in different spots in the city. The official death count announced by French President Francois Hollande is at 127. More than 200 were injured in the attacks, in the worst such violence in France’s history. The assailants struck at least six very different venues, ranging from the national sports stadium to a pizzeria. The overall toll is expected to rise. In his second televised speech late Saturday morning, Hollande held Islamic State responsible for the tragedy and said the tragedy was “an act of war… committed by a terrorist army, the Islamic State, against France, against… what we are, a free country.” He had earlier declared a state of Emergency in the country, the first in France since World War II, in a speech early Saturday morning. “Terrorist attacks of an unprecedented level are underway across the Paris region,” he had said, adding, “It’s a horror.” Following the attack, the iconic Eiffel Tower has been closed indefinitely, AFP quoted the management of the tower as saying. [caption id=“attachment_2506138” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rescuers and police stand by on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire near the Bataclan concert hall. AFP[/caption] Bataclan concert hall A full house of 1,500 people were packed into the popular venue in eastern Paris for a concert by the US band Eagles of Death Metal. About an hour after the band took to the stage, the whole concert hall was turned into “a bloodbath” according to a French radio reporter at the scene. Black-clad gunmen wielding AK-47s stormed into the hall and fired calmly and methodically at hundreds of screaming concert-goers. Fellow radio presenter Pierre Janaszak heard the first shots and thought it was part of the act. “But we quickly understood. They were just firing into the crowd.” He said he heard an attacker say, “It’s the fault of Hollande, it’s the fault of your president, he should not have intervened in Syria.” Four assailants were killed after police stormed in – three by activating their suicide vests and a fourth shot dead – but not before they had mown down some 100 people. Stade de France Three loud explosions were heard outside France’s national stadium during the first half of a friendly international football match between France and Germany. At least five people died outside the glittering venue which staged the 1998 World Cup final with several others seriously hurt. One of the explosions was near a McDonald’s restaurant on the fringes of the stadium. At least one of the two explosions in rue Jules-Rimet was a suicide bomb attack. French President Francois Hollande, who was watching the game, was immediately evacuated. Eventually, France won the match and the stadium emptied in a relatively calm atmosphere. Rue de Charonne A little further east on Rue de Charonne 18 people were killed, with one witness saying a Japanese restaurant was the main target. “There was blood everywhere,” the witness said. Another man said he heard shots ring out, in sharp bursts, for two or three minutes. “I saw several bloody bodies on the ground. I don’t know if they were dead,” he said. Emergency workers covered bodies splayed on the sidewalk of the traditional Parisian cafe, whose name is a play on the expression “Le Belle Epoque.” Rue Bichat 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. Pierre Montfort lives close to the Cambodian restaurant. “We heard the sound of guns, 30-second bursts. It was endless. We thought it was fireworks,” he said. Florence said she arrived by scooter a minute or so after. “It was surreal, everyone was on the ground. No one was moving inside the Petit Cambodge restaurant and everyone was on the ground in bar Carillon,” she said. “It was very calm – people didn’t understand what was going on. A young girl was being carried in the arms of a young man. She seemed to be dead.” Rue de la Fontaine au Roi A few hundred metres (yards) from the Bataclan, the terrace of the Casa Nostra pizzeria was targeted. Five people were killed by attackers wielding automatic rifles, according to witness Mathieu, 35. “There were at least five dead around me, others in the road, there was blood everywhere. I was very lucky.” Boulevard Voltaire A judicial source said one of the attackers exploded his suicide vest on the Boulevard Voltaire, near the Bataclan. It is not yet known if there were any injuries from the explosion. French army has deployed 1,500 extra soldiers to Paris to help with the aftermath of the attacks. Facebook started its Facebook Safety Check feature to allow people in Paris to alert their friends about their safety and to check about the safety of their friends. Schools and universities in Paris will be closed on Saturday, border controls reestablished and entertainment venues and meeting halls will be closed for the time being, Hollande said. The Mayor of Paris has urged everyone to stay at home. With inputs from AFP and AP