Paris attacks: Events as they happened

THE attacks on Paris were the worst terrorist assault on Europe in a decade. Here is how the weekend’s events unfolded.

People light candles at a makeshift memorial in front of "Le Carillon" restaurant one of the site of the attacks. Picture: AFP/Getty Images

FRIDAY 13TH NOVEMBER

9.20pm - The first explosion went off near the Stade de France, where President Francois Hollande was at a football match between France and Germany. One person was killed in the blast. The body of a terrorist was found at the scene wearing a suicide belt filled with shrapnel.

9.25pm - Gunmen with Kalashnikovs opened fire at Le Carillon bar and Le Petit Cambodge restaurant in Rue Alibert in the city’s 10th district, killing 15 and injuring 10.

A woman is being evacuated from the Bataclan theatre after a shooting. Picture: AP

9.30pm - A second explosion went off outside the Stade de France when a second suicide bomber blew himself up.

Within the next 10 minutes three more attacks were carried out in the same area. Five people died and eight were injured in a shooting outside La Bonne Biere bar in the 11th district. Another 19 were killed and nine injured at the nearby La Belle Equipe restaurant on Rue de Charonne. Another person was seriously injured when a suicide explosive, similar to those used in the other attacks, was detonated inside the Voltaire restaurant in Boulevard Voltaire.

9.40pm - Three gunmen stormed Le Bataclan during a concert by American rock band Eagles Of Death Metal at around 9.40pm and around half an hour later there was confirmation that a hostage crisis had developed at the theatre.

9.53pm - A third suicide bomber blew himself up on Rue de la Coquerie, near the Stade de France.

French president Francois Hollande speaks at the Elysee palace in Paris on November 14. Picture: AFP/Getty Images

Around 11pm - Mr Hollande placed the whole of France under a state of emergency and the French military were called into the centre of Paris. It followed a statement from US president Barack Obama, who said: “We stand together with them in the fight against terrorism and extremism.”

SATURDAY 14TH NOVEMBER

By 12.20am - The three terrorists at Le Bataclan were dead. One was shot by French police, the other two blew themselves up after armed officers stormed the building. At least 89 were killed and more than 100 others injured as the attackers fired at the crowd and threw explosives. The attackers were heard mentioning Syria and Iraq during the massacre.

The Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said the death toll in the attacks, said to have been at six sites across the capital, could rise above 120.

Nick Alexander, who died in the Bataclan massacre. Picture: PA

Around 1.40am - Police said they believed all the attackers involved in the string of attacks were dead. They added that a hunt was under way for possible accomplices.

3am - Mr Hollande visited the Bataclan. Speaking about the fight against those responsible for attacking the country he said: “We will lead the fight. We will be merciless.”

6am - Downing Street said Prime Minister David Cameron would chair a meeting of the Government’s emergency Cobra committee.

Mark Rowley, Scotland Yard’s assistant commissioner for specialist operations in London, said there would be a heightened police presence at British ports and major events over the coming days in response to the massacres.

Young women mourn the dead at a makeshift memorial near the Bataclan concert hall in Paris. Picture: AFP/Getty Images

A manhunt for accomplices of the gunmen is launched after Parisian authorities warned it was possible more terrorists could be on the run.

10am - Mr Hollande confirmed the death toll had climbed to 127, declaring there would be three days of national mourning. He confirmed terror group Islamic State (IS) was behind the attacks, which he called”an act of war”, saying they had been organised and planned from abroad.

IS claimed responsibility, saying in a statement issued in Arabic and French that the attackers had targeted “the capital of abominations and perversions and those who carry the crusader banner in Europe”.

In an apparent reference to France’s participation in air strikes against IS strongholds in Syria, the statement continued: “France and those who follow the same path must know that they will remain the principal targets of Islamic State and will continue to smell the scent of death for having ... struck Muslims in the territory of the caliphate with their aircraft.”

Midday - Mr Cameron warned the UK “must be prepared for a number of British casualties”, and condemned the “brutal and callous murderers. The Queen also sent a message of condolence to Mr Hollande, saying she and the Duke of Edinburgh had been “deeply shocked and saddened by the terrible loss of life in Paris”.

3pm - Local police said one of the bombers was a young Frenchman flagged for links with Islamic extremism. He is later named as Ismael Mostefai, 29. Members of his family are arrested for questioning.

26-year old Salah Abdeslam, who is wanted by police in connection with recent terror attacks in Paris. Picture: AP

A Metropolitan Police team was deployed to help the French authorities after officials said they were concerned that “a small number of British nationals have been caught up in the attack”.

4pm - Gatwick Airport north terminal was evacuated after a suspected firearm was discovered. A 41-year-old French national was taken into custody for questioning. Detective Superintendent Nick May, Sussex Police said there is “heightened awareness around any such incident” because of the Paris attacks.

5pm - Three suspects were arrested in Belgium over the Paris attacks.

6.30pm - The prosecutor said the death toll had risen to at least 129, with 352 injured.

The Foreign Office confirmed a British national was among those killed in the Bataclan shooting. He is later named as Nick Alexander, who was selling band merchandise at the venue.

11pm - The Paris prosecutor’s office said family members of one of the attackers - a Frenchman born in the Paris suburbs - had been detained.

Sussex Police announce that Frenchman Jerome Chauris has been charged with possession of an air rifle and a knife following the incident at Gatwick Airport.

SUNDAY 15TH NOVERMBER

- It emerges on Sunday that at least one of the attackers is believed to have passed through Greece as a refugee.

- A Seat car, thought to have been sued by the attackers, is found by police in the Paris suburb of Montreuil.

- Home Secretary Theresa May says the UK will review what has happened in Paris “and see if there are any lessons to be learned”. The UK stands “shoulder to shoulder” with France, she tells BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show.

- Speaking after leading a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency committee, Mrs May said the UK authorities were working to help find anyone involved in the “barbaric attacks”.

- Security has been beefed up in UK cities and ports, although the terror threat level has not been changed from the second-highest “severe” rating.

- It is announced that the England v France football international will go ahead at Wembley on Tuesday as a sign that “the terrorists will not win”.

- It emerges that two of the terrorists killed on Friday night were Frenchmen living in the Belgian capital Brussels.

- French police issue a wanted notice for Salah Abdeslam, a 26-year-old man born in Brussels, who they say is dangerous and should not be approached.

- Death roll rises to 132.