French police with protective shields walk in line near a concert hall following fatal shootings in Paris.

PARIS― At least 140 people were reportedly killed in a series of attacks by gunmen and bombers at busy restaurants, bars, and a concert hall across Paris on Friday. 

Reports of explosions that rocked a bar near the Stade de France during a soccer match were accompanied by accounts of a hostage crisis at a concert hall, and shootings near restaurants and bars in districts near the center of the city. 

Attackers held as many as 100 hostages for several hours at the concert hall until French security forces raided the venue and defeated the hostage-takers, who were reportedly executing people inside.

An Al Jazeera reporter described seeing “piles” of stretchers being brought into the concert hall. The reporter also cited that police are saying there might be as many as 100 dead at the venue. 

“There are lots of people here. I don’t know what’s happening, a sobbing witness told BFM TV outside the music hall. “It’s horrible. There’s a body over there. It’s horrible.” 

BFM, a French television station said several people were dead in the restaurant shootings. A France 24 journalist on the scene said he saw bodies on the ground outside. 

French president Hollande, who was attending the international soccer match with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier when several explosions took place outside the national stadium, declared a state of emergency in the Paris region. He announced the closure of France’s borders to stop perpetrators from escaping. 

“This is a horrible ordeal, that once again, assails us,” Hollande said. “Faced with terror, France needs to be strong.” 

There was no immediate verifiable claim of responsibility but Reuters reports that supporters of the Islamic State militant group tweeted that the group carried them out. 

The attacks came within days of attacks claimed by Islamic State militants in southern Beirut, claiming 43 lives.