PARIS – French officials said the attackers worked in three synchronized teams, wearing matching suicide vests and carrying the same weapons. In an excruciating half-hour, they unleashed their terror.
One suicide bombing after another at the national stadium, sprays of gunfire in the crowded restaurants and streets of central Paris, and finally a hostage standoff that drenched a 19th-century dance hall with the blood of dozens of young people out for a night of rock music. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said three suicide attackers died near the stadium, three in the concert hall, and one further south on the same boulevard.
READ MORE: After the Paris attacks: France searches for answers as it mourns death of 129 people
Here is how it happened, based on accounts from French authorities and witnesses. All times are in Paris time (Central Europe Time).
9 p.m.
Kickoff of the France-Germany soccer match at the French national stadium and the beginning of the rock show at the Bataclan concert hall. Both packed with fans, the match includes French President Francois Hollande among spectators.
9:20 p.m.
A man with a Syrian passport and an explosives vest blows himself up at Gate D of the stadium, killing himself and a bystander. The match continues.
WATCH: The sound of explosions can be heard inside the Stade de France during the soccer-friendly between France and Germany
9:25 p.m.
Get daily National news
Gunmen in a black rented Seat Leon open fire on a bar and a restaurant – Le Carillon and Petit Cambodge – killing 15 people and leaving more than 100 shell casings of different calibres, including 7.62 mm, strewn at the scene.
9:30 p.m.
A second suicide bomber approaches Gate H of the stadium, blowing himself up but claiming no other victims.
9:32 p.m.
Gunmen in a rented Seat Leon open fire on a La Bonne Biere bar on La Fontaine au Roi street, just around the corner from the restaurant shootings. Five people are killed. About a hundred shells are left on the ground of different calibre, including again 7.62 mm.
9:36 p.m.
Gunmen in a black Seat car attack Charonne street, killing 19 people. Again, about 100 shell casings are left on the ground, including 7.62 mm.
9:40 p.m.
A black Volkswagen Polo parks outside the Bataclan concert hall on Boulevard Voltaire, and three people emerge, opening fire as they enter the packed venue. Eagles of Death Metal is several songs into their show and playing to a full house. The attackers enter, apparently unnoticed over the loud music, armed with automatic weapons, their bodies wired with explosives.
WATCH: Heavy police presence near Bataclan concert hall as hostage situation underway
In a brief communication with security forces, the hostage-takers invoke Syria and Iraq. As the attackers repeatedly fire on the audience, people escape from side doors of the venue, some dragging bodies with them.
WATCH: Concert-goers escape from the Bataclan after gunmen attack the concert hall.
At that moment, a suicide bomber detonates his vest further down Boulevard Voltaire. The bomber is the only victim.
9:53 p.m.
A suicide attacker about 400 metres from the Stade de France detonates his vest, identical to those of the others with TATP explosives. No one else is killed.
12:20 a.m.
Security forces storm the Bataclan. Two of the attackers detonate their suicide vests; a third is shot by law enforcement and the vest explodes. Eighty-nine people are found dead, and many critically injured.
Comments