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INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2015 Apocalyptic scenes as Paris attack targets PARIS: The string of coordinated attacks in and around Paris late Friday left more than 120 people dead, in the worst such violence in France’s history. The assailants struck at least six different venues, ranging from the Stade de France football stadium to a pizzeria. Bataclan concert hall, 82 dead A full house of 1,500 people were packed into the pop- ular 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 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 hun- dreds of screaming concert-goers. Fellow radio pre- senter Pierre Janaszak heard the first shots and thought it was part of the act. “But we quickly under- stood. 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 killed at least 82 people. Stade de France, 4 dead Three loud explosions were heard outside France’s national stadium during the first half of a friendly inter- national football match between France and Germany. At least four 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 immedi- ately evacuated. The two sides played on to the end. PARIS: Dried blood can be seen on the window of the Carillon cafe in Paris yesterday, a day after over 120 people were killed in a series of shooting and explosions. — AP Afterwards, bewildered fans poured onto the pitch while waiting for all the exits to be declared secure. The stadium emptied in a relatively calm atmosphere. PARIS: Sirens blaring, blood on the roads, weeping rela- witness. Outside the Saint-Louis Hospital in the north of tives: nightmare scenes played out on the streets of Paris the capital a police cordon had been set up. Standing near- on Friday night as at least 120 people were killed in simul- by, a tearful man said his sister had been killed. At his side, taneous attacks. Pierre Montfort lives close to a Cambodian his mother burst into tears and collapsed into his arms. restaurant on Rue Bichat, where one of seven attacks took “They won’t let us pass,” he said, pointing at the intersec- place in a night of bloodshed not seen in decades. “We tion 50 metres (yards) away. Further east, near the Bataclan heard the sound of guns, 30-second bursts. It was endless. concert hall and not far from the scene of another deadly We thought it was fireworks,” he said. attack in January on the offices of satirical French maga- Another witness described the scene: “For a moment, zine Charlie Hebdo, the area was on lock down. we could only see the flames from the gun. We were Police say around 100 people were killed at the music scared, how did we know he wasn’t going to shoot the venue, with reports saying armed attackers shot dead peo- windows?” Florence said she arrived by scooter a minute or ple attending a rock concert one by one before police so after. “It was surreal, everyone was on the ground. No stormed the building. “My wife was in Bataclan, it’s a catas- one was moving inside the Petit Cambodge restaurant and trophe,” said one man as he tried to run into the site but everyone was on the ground in bar Carillon,” she said. “It was blocked by the police cordon. “All I can tell you is that was very calm-people didn’t understand what was going it’s worse than Charlie Hebdo,” said a security officer. In the on. A young girl was being carried in the arms of a young north of Paris, near the Stade de France stadium, three man. She seemed to be dead.” explosions left at least five dead as France were playing a On Rue Charonne, a little further east, fire engines drive friendly football match against Germany. “We heard explo- WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama looks down as past, their sirens wailing. A man said he heard shots ring sions 25 minutes after the start of the match. It continued he speaks to the press in Washington, DC after being out, in sharp bursts, for two or three minutes. “I saw several as normal. I thought it was a joke,” said Ludovic Klein, 37, informed about a series of deadly attacks that rocked bloody bodies on the ground. I don’t know if they were who came from Limoges to watch the match with his 10- Paris. - AFP dead,” he said. “There was blood everywhere,” said another year-old son. — AFP PARIS: Blood and medical items are pictured outside the Bataclan concert hall. — AP Rue de Charonne, 18 dead A little further east, on Rue de Charonne, 18 people were killed, with one witness saying a Japanese restau- rant and nearby cafe were the main targets. “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 bloodied bodies on the PARIS: The French and European flags (at half mast) are seen at the Elysee palace in PARIS: A victim under a blanket lays dead outside the Bataclan theater in Paris. — AP ground. I don’t know if they were dead,” he said. Paris yesterday. — AFP Rue Alibert, at least 12 dead The terrace of a Cambodian restaurant on Rue Alibert in the 10th district, Le Petit Cambodge, was the scene of another attack, which killed at least 12 people. “We heard the sound of guns, 30-second bursts. It was end- less. We thought it was fireworks,” Pierre Montfort, a local resident, said. Florence said she arrived by scoot- er a minute or so after. “It was surreal, everyone was on the ground. No one was moving inside the Petit Cambodge and everyone was on the ground in (the adjacent) Carillon bar,” she said. “It was very calm-peo- ple didn’t understand what was going on. A girl was being carried in the arms of a young man. She seemed to be dead.” Rue de la Fontaine au Roi, at least 5 dead A few hundred meters 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.” Another witness said he saw shots being fired from a black Ford Focus. Boulevard Voltaire, 1 dead A judicial source said one of the attackers died when he detonated his suicide vest on Boulevard Voltaire, near the Bataclan. — AFP PARIS: Victims lay on the pavement in a Paris restaurant. — AP PARIS: Victims belongings lay on the pavement outside the Bataclan concert hall yesterday. — AP .