Multiple attacks in Paris at restaurants, concert hall and national stadium

France has declared a state of emergency and closed its borders after dozens of people were killed in violence in Paris.

Around 100 people have reportedly been taken hostage at a theatre after the French capital was hit by a series of attacks.

Screen grab of police on the streets of Paris after gunmen opened fire in multiple attacks. Image by BBC News 24/PA Wire

French president Francois Hollande said he was closing the country’s borders and declaring a state of emergency.

On Twitter Parisians were offering refuge to people looking for a safe place to stay with the hashtag #PorteOuverte.

Officials said shots were fired in at least two restaurants and at least two explosions were heard near the Stade de France stadium, where the national side was playing Germany in a friendly football match.

The Associated Press said fatalities had been reported following a “shootout” at a restaurant, believed to be near the Place de la Republique, and that ambulances were at the scene.

In a separate incident explosions were heard from within the Stade de France, about five or six miles from the city centre, where France were playing Germany in an international football friendly.

Police said at least 35 people were killed in the shootouts and other violence around Paris, but the numbers of dead and injured are expected to rise.

Confused and frightening scenes in Paris as reports of deaths in multiple attacks rise. Image by BBC News 24/PA Wire

French police said hostages were taken at the Bataclan Concert Hall where the Eagles of Death Metal were playing.

French president Francois Hollande left the stadium where he had been watching the football match to hold an emergency meeting.

Rescue workers and medics work by victims in a Paris restaurant, Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. Image by (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Eyewitness Ben Grant said he was in a bar with his wife when the gunshots were fired and he had seen six or seven bodies on the ground.

He told the BBC: “I was told people in cars had opened fire on the bar.

Victims lay on the pavement in a Paris restaurant, Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. Image by (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

“There are lots of dead people. It’s pretty horrific to be honest.

“I was at the back of the bar. I couldn’t see anything.

“I heard gunshots. People dropped to the ground. We put a table over our heads to protect us.

“We were held up in the bar because there was a pile of bodies in front of us.”

Video grab taken from Sky News of crowds on the pitch at the Stade de France stadium, where the French national side where playing Germany in a friendly football match. Image by Sky News/PA Wire

The attacks come almost a year after the Charlie Hebdo atrocity, which took place in January and saw 12 people killed after gunmen stormed the offices of the satirical magazine.

In June, France launched a terrorism investigation after police found a decapitated body in a gas factory in the south-eastern city of Lyon.

And two months later three Americans and one Briton were awarded medals for bravery after they overpowered a heavily armed gunman on a train in France.

(Press Association)