Paris simulates suicide bombing

Emergency services in Paris took part in an exercise simulating three coordinated bomb attacks on the French capital.

Hundreds of police, fire-fighters and ambulance crews put into action their emergency responses to a potential city-wide attack.

The fake "blasts" went off at the Stade de France national stadium, in a shopping centre, and next to the river Seine in central Paris.

Volunteers with fake injuries lay on the ground waiting to be helped by emergency workers.

Georges Guyon, a spokesperson for Paris Prefecture said the exercise would help the emergency services and the Paris authorities to improve their skills in managing a crisis.

The exercise closed down parts of the capital, causing frustration for some tourists who said they were unable to take a boat trip on the river while the drill was going on. The simulation comes just days after a bomb-laden SUV was found in Times Square in New York City.