'Terrorists' at Paris Bataclan killed

Gunmen who stormed a Paris concert hall killing several people and taking hostages have been killed, French President Francois Hollande says.

"The terrorists who were not far from here were killed," Hollande said on television after visiting a security command centre near the Bataclan concert hall where the gunmen held people hostage before an assault by security forces.

He added France would be ruthless against those who carried out the attacks.

The Paris police prefect said the attackers at the Bataclan rock venue 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 assault 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.

Cadot said all the attackers are believed dead, although authorities are hunting for any possible accomplices.