France calls state of emergency, closing borders after attacks

Paris municipality asks Parisians to stay home after spate of deadly attacks.

By REUTERS
Updated: NOVEMBER 14, 2015 05:20
Scene of Paris attack
PARIS - French President Francois Hollande said a state of emergency would be declared across France and national borders shut following a spate of attacks in Paris on Friday evening.
Hollande said in a brief statement on television that a cabinet meeting had been called.
"A state of emergency will be declared," Hollande said. "The second measure will be the closure of national borders," he added.
Meanwhile, the Paris municipality asked Parisians in a tweet to stay home.
Hours later, Hollande visited the scene of an attack in central Paris on Saturday morning, one of several which killed at least 120 people across the capital.
"I wanted to be here to measure the scale of this tragedy, this abomination committed in a number of places across the capital by savages who had a desire to kill, to kill the largest number of people possible," he said, surrounded by ministers and the city's mayor.
Hollande said he was still not sure of the exact number of victims, but that the assailants at the attack on a nearby concert hall had been killed.
"We wanted to be there among those who saw these awful things to say that we are going to fight, and that this fight will be merciless. Because when terrorists are capable of such atrocities they should know that they'll be faced with a France that's determined, a France that's united, a France which stands together, a France which will not be intimidated, even if today we're infinitely moved by this tragedy," Hollande said.
Restaurants and a sports stadium were among the venues targeted in the attacks, with nearly 100 people killed during a rock concert at the Bataclan concert venue.
Security remained tight in the capital, including at the Elysee presidential palace, and Hollande declared a nationwide state of emergency.