Paris under siege: At least 120 dead in terror attacks

Central Paris is on lockdown Friday night after a wave of attacks and explosions that have left at least 120 people dead and dozens injured. Eight of the attackers are dead, seven after suicide bombings, according to the Paris prosecutor.

France has responded with force, with President François Hollande closing the nation's borders, halting all travel in and out of France, and promising that the military will flood the city.

The attacks began with reports of a shooting at a restaurant, Le Petit Cambodge, in a trendy neighborhood in central Paris. Moments later, witnesses reported hearing multiple explosions outside the Stade de France, where France was playing Germany in an internationally-televised soccer match.

Then, numerous attackers opened fire from the balcony at a concert venue, Le Bataclan, where the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal was playing a show. People who escaped the hall said it was a massacre, with blood and bodies everywhere. At least 100 lost their lives there.

“Two or three unmasked individuals came in with automatic weapons, Kalachnikov style, and started to shoot blindly into the crowd,” one witness said to E1. “It was extremely violent and there was a sense of panic. Everyone ran towards the scene. There was trampling. Even I was trampling."

That witness, local journalist Julian Pierce, said the attackers reloaded at least three times. Pierce said the initial gunfire lasted around 15 minutes.

Later early Saturday morning, the Paris police prefect said the attackers at Le Bataclan blew themselves up with suicide belts as police closed in. He said the gunmen first sprayed cafes outside the venue with machine gunfire, then went inside the concert hall and killed more before the assaullt by security forces.

The prefect, Michel Cadot, said the one set of attackers was at the stadium and at nearly the same time the second group attacked within the city.

Hollande, who was at the stadium, was reportedly evacuated and went to an emergency meeting at the Interior Ministry. Later, he delivered an official statement about closing the borders and initiating military forces. He urged caution among citizens.

Although explosions could be heard during the game's broadcast, it continued to its completion. Authorities did not evacuate the stadium and hundreds of people swarmed the field, hugging each other, crying and seeking answers to the mayhem unfolding outside.

Noah Nieman, an American who is visiting Paris for business, described scenes of chaos in central Paris. He was at a Phileu restaurant on the Avenue Richerand when he heard shots break out down the road coming from Rue Albert.

"A large crowd of people came running down the street towards us, so we ran inside the restaurant and into the basement," said Neiman. "There were children crying and a huge crowd hiding down there. We really don't know what's going on." We really don't know what's going on."

Neiman said a large police presence gathered near Rue Albert and one woman ran by saying she saw a body of one of the victims. He said several ambulances also sped through the area.

After the initial shots rang out, there was a long pause and Neiman went back outside to see what had happened. Several police wearing flak jackets and helmets screamed at people on the street to get back inside.

A second witness, Stephane Hannache, was broadcasting on Periscope during a portion of the attack and shots can be heard at the ten-minute mark in his video.

One person who posted images of the aftermath that showed broken windows with numerous bullet holes.

Witnesses speaking to France 24 anchor Tom Burges Watson described a city in "panic."

“This is a terrible test, another assault on France,” Hollande said in his televised address to the nation. "Faced with terrorism, France must above all be strong.”