Concert hall at centre of Paris attacks to reopen late 2016

Paris, Feb 10: The Bataclan concert hall in Paris, where 90 people were killed in the November jihadist attacks in the French capital, will undergo renovation and reopen its doors before the end of the year, the venue's owners announced today.

"We will do our best to reopen the venue by the end of 2016," Jerome Langlet of the Bataclan's main owner, the Lagardere group, told AFP.

The renovation and repair work has not yet begun, the group added. The Paris attacks by men armed with guns and explosives occurred on November 13, leaving 90 people dead in the Bataclan and 40 other victims elsewhere, including around the Stade de France national sports stadium.

The concert hall is one of the most famous music venues in Paris, with a capacity of 1,500 people. US band Eagles of Death Metal were playing there when three jihadists stormed in on that fateful November night.

Built in 1864, the venue's name derives from Ba-ta-clan, an operetta by 19th century German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach. It is now listed as a historic monument.

AFP