The death toll in what is shaping up to be the bloodiest terror attack in French history spiked late Friday after police stormed the concert hall in Paris where at least two gunmen had been holding scores of hostages, and found that at least 100 of them had been killed by the attackers. The grim tally caused French authorities to raise the estimated death toll to 120, with another 200 wounded.
The public prosecutor for Paris, François Molins, told reporters the terrorists hit six sites: Stade de France, where an unknown number of people died, Rue de Charonne, where as many as 18 were killed, Rue Alibert, where up to 14 were murdered, Boulevard Voltaire, where one died, Rue Fontaine le Roi, where five died, and the Bataclan concert hall, where at least 100 were killed by several attackers.
Speaking at the Bataclan, which saw the worst of the carnage, French President Francois Hollande struck a defiant tone, saying “we are going to lead a war, it will be pitiless” in tracking down and eliminating those connected with the attacks.
“When terrorists are capable of committing such atrocities, they must be certain that they are facing a determined France, a united France, a France that is together and does not let itself be moved, even if today we express infinite sorrow,” he said. French authorities have said that the attackers at the Bataclan blew themselves up with suicide belts when the police closed in on them.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the coordinated terrorist attacks, though self-proclaimed supporters of the Islamic State took to Twitter and Facebook to celebrate the strike.