At least 15 people are confirmed dead at the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris – only about 200m from the former office of Charlie Hebdo which was attacked by jihadists in January.
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Candles are lit outside the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, Sunday, …
Belgian authorities tell AFP news agency that they have boosted checks on their borders, especially with France, following the attacks.
“At first, I thought it was part of the show”, Pearce, who works for Europe 1, told NBC News.
Eagles of Death Metal, the California-based band onstage at the Bataclat when the attack began, escaped safely, but sadly, Thomas Ayad, an executive with Mercury Records, was killed, as was Nick Alexander, a merchandising manager for the band.
Then the attackers started again, strafing the crowd with automatic gunfire. They entered the club apparently unnoticed amid the high-decibel music, and opened fire at the crowd.
More than 80 people were killed there when attackers seized hostages during a night of terror across the city.
Most of the fatalities were from the attack on the Bataclan. He told Agence France Presse, “At first we thought it was part of the show, but we quickly understood”.
In claiming responsibility for the attacks, the Islamic State group said the Bataclan had expressly been targeted for its “hundreds of pagans gathered for a concert of prostitution and vice”. At one point it sounds like they were firing down from the balcony into the main area where everybody was lying.
Vision outside the Bataclan concert venue is taken by photographer Patrick Zachmann, as he hid behind an unmarked police auto. “With another man, I pulled him into the lobby”. “The leader of the band, the previous song before everything happened, said to the crowd, ‘Let’s do a prayer.’ And so at that moment, we thought it was ironic”. We heard screaming. Everyone was trying to flee.
“I was just a reporter, a very sad reporter”, he said.
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Pearce finally reached the emergency exit, where he helped a wounded young woman run to safety. They are killing everyone.
