The news from Paris

The facts so far are these.

127 people (latest count), mainly young people at a concert by the American heavy metal group, Eagles of Death Metal, and others at pavement cafes near the Bataclan concert venue, have been murdered.

Those at the concert were killed by explosives carried in by the attackers and detonated there and then, and by gunfire. Those at the pavement cafes and restaurants were raked by gunfire as the attackers walked past and in.

180 have been injured.

The attacks took place at five locations in Paris at the same time: outside the Stade de France, the Bataclan concert hall, and three restaurants. Except for the Stade de France which is in St Denis, all the attacks took place in the 10th and 11th districts. Francois Hollande was at the Stade de France at the time.

Eight attackers died too. Seven were suicide bombers who blew themselves up when they detonated explosive belts at various locations. One was shot dead by police.

Hostages were taken and one of the captors was heard shouting at them: “It’s Hollande’s fault. It’s your president’s fault. He should not have intervened in Syria”. France is allied to the United States in the bombing of terrorist targets in Syria, in one of which “Jihadi John” – the man with a British accent seen decapitating captives in videos released to the public, is supposed to have been killed yesterday.

Francois Hollande has declared a nationwide state of emergency, which allows the government to shut down public places, impose curfews on people and restrictions on the movement of traffic.

France’s borders have been closed to stop any remaining perpetrators from escaping. This does not mean that people are not allowed to enter and leave the country, but that there will be stringent passport checks and searches. Overground trains and flights will carry on and airports are not closed.

The Paris underground has been closed. Schools, universities, museums, gyms, public pools and other municipal buildings will stay shut today.

All emergency services have been mobilised, police leave has been cancelled, hospitals have recalled staff, and 1,500 army reinforcements have been drafted into Paris.

Radio stations are broadcasting warnings to Parisians to stay at home and get off the streets. They are also urging people to give shelter to anyone caught out in the street and unable to return home because of the transport shutdown.