At least 40 people have been killed in a series of attacks in Paris on Friday night, police said, and some 100 hostages have also been taken at a theater in the French capital.
Gunmen have opened fire at several locations in Paris, the BBC reported, citing the French media.
According to the BBC, at least one gunman opened fire with an automatic gun at the Cambodge restaurant in the 11th district of the French capital.
The French newspaper Liberation said that there were also shooting attacks near the Bataclan arts center where a concert by the Eagles of Death Metal was being held. Hundreds of people were said to be attending.
An explosion is also reported to have targeted a bar near Stade de France, where France was hosting the German soccer team. French President Francois Hollande was reportedly watching the match at the time, and was evacuated. Some 50 or 60 thousand people were thought to have been at the match.
The president then called an emergency meeting with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
According to a BBC journalist at the Cambodge restaurant, 10 people were visible on the street, either dead or seriously injured and police were at the scene.
The attackers appear to have targeted central areas of Paris, which were busy on a Friday night.
According to French paper Le Figaro, the assailants are still on the loose.
The paper quoted a TV station as reporting a dismembered corpse had been found in the stadium. Other reports said the attack included shootings and a suicide attack.
Paris residents were posting images on Twitter of soldiers on the streets of the city.
French TV: ‘All the signs’ of coordinated terror attacks
France 24 says there are reports of a decapitated body found at the Stade de France soccer stadium, escalating the concern that a suicide bomber was involved in explosions there.
The attacks “bear all the signs” of coordinated terror, the TV station reports.
Recap of four sites targeted in Paris attacks
France 24 recaps: Over 30 dead in Paris attacks. four known sites involved.
France’s President Francois Hollande is in emergency consultations.
President Barack Obama has been updated.
First attack was in the 10th Arrondissement — a popular bar area.
Second attack was at the Bataclan concert hall, in the 11 Arrondissement, where a hostage drama is still unfolding.
A third attack at a restaurant nearby has seen at least 10 killings, with two gunmen said involved.
In a fourth incident, explosions have been heard near the football stadium where France and Germany played a friendly game this evening.
France 24 is reporting “real panic” in Paris amid the multiple fatal attacks.
Those responsible for the shootings are still art large, it says.
A Sky News commentator says “it is obvious” that the attacks are coordinated.
100 hostages taken at Paris theater
A French police official tells AP: Around 100 hostages taken at Paris’s Bataclan theater.
U.S. Homeland Security Department officials monitoring the attacks in Paris say there is no known, credible threat against the United States.
DHS officials are in contact with their foreign counterparts amid reports of multiple shootings and explosions in Paris.
Police officials in France say at least 26 people have been killed and a hostage-taking situation is underway at a theater.
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