100 minutes that stunned the world: a full account of how the carnage of the Paris massacre unfolded

At 8.17pm GMT on Friday night, a thunderous bang rose above raucous singing in the Stade de France on the northern fringes of Paris.

Believing it signalled the start of a fireworks display, football fans watching France play Germany in a friendly match simply cheered.

In fact, it was a bomber detonating explosives outside the stadium – and it signalled the start of a night of horror, setting in motion a series of monstrous acts that would eclipse by far the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January and, by the end of the night, render Paris numb with shock.

Although it is scarcely possible to conceive, it emerged last night that the attack on the French national stadium could have been catastrophically worse. Mercifully, it appears the bombers' plan failed.

 Police sources believe they were trying to trigger a panicked stampede by detonating a suicide vest inside the stadium and then bombing the fleeing fans – but were thwarted when one bomber failed to gain admittance to the arena.

At least one of them had a ticket to the game. He attempted to negotiate security 15 minutes after kick-off but was frisked by a security guard who, to his horror, realised he was wearing an explosives vest.

Attempting to back away from security, the attacker then blew himself up – killing a 63-year-old Portuguese man who lived and worked in Paris.

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