A mobile phone has been credited with saving the life of a man who was caught up in gunfire when terrorists launched an attack outside the Stade de France in Paris on Friday night.

In an extraordinary interview with iTele in France, the man named only as Sylvestre claimed his head would have "exploded" if not for his mobile phone, which apparently absorbed the impact of a bullet.

Sylvestre, who said he was also shot in the foot and suffered a bullet graze to his torso, was still clutching his white mobile phone, which had a large dent on one side and a shattered screen on the other.