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Paris prosecutor details timeline of hostage situation at Bataclan concert hall

Posted at 2:49 PM, Nov 14, 2015
and last updated 2015-11-14 16:49:18-05

(CNN) — In one of the last of Friday’s Paris-area attacks, three assailants arrived at the Bataclan concert venue in a black Volkswagen Polo at 9:40 p.m. local time, armed with assault weapons, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters Saturday.

Screen capture courtesy Fox News. Photo by Instagram user @dales

Screen capture courtesy Fox News. Photo by Instagram user @dales

The attackers opened fire in the concert hall as the performance was underway, he said. They then took members of the audience hostage and regrouped them in front of the stage, which explains why police found most of the victims at that spot, Molins said.

After gathering the hostages, the attackers mentioned Syria and Iraq during a brief address, Molins said, without elaborating.

Larry Langner captured this photo outside the Bataclan theater in Paris, after gunmen stormed the venue, killing dozens. Credit: Larry Langner

Larry Langner captured this photo outside the Bataclan theater in Paris, after gunmen stormed the venue, killing dozens.
Credit: Larry Langner

French elite police units stormed the Bataclan at 12:20 a.m. local time. The three terrorists were killed during the police assault. One was killed by police gunfire and by the explosives he was wearing; the two others activated their suicide belts and died as police stormed the concert hall, Molins said.

A total of 89 people attending the concert were killed, and several were injured, Molins said.

A radio reporter attending the concert described what happened from his point of view, and he described the scene as a “bloodbath.” Click here for details.

The assault at Bataclan was one of six attacks in Paris, which ISIS have claimed responsibility for. The death toll is reported at 129, and on Saturday several arrests were made in Belgium.