Prosecutors confirmed Abdelhamid Abaaoud died in a fierce shootout with police who stormed the flat in northern Paris early on Wednesday.

It has also been confirmed that his cousin, Hasna Ait Aitboulahcen, 26, died during the raid.

She is believed to be the woman who blew herself up with an explosives vest while holed up in the apartment.

She was formally identified from her fingerprints. A handbag containing a passport in her name was found in the debris, prosecutors said.

French media reports that her family described her as "unstable". Her mother said she had never seen her open a Koran.

Authorities originally thought two people had been killed in the raid, but the third body was found in the rubble overnight.

Prosecutors have only confirmed it is a female body, but have not revealed her identity.

They described the bodies as badly mangled.

Hundreds of heavily armed officers stormed the apartment complex, triggering a massive firefight and explosions. Eight people were arrested during the operation.

Abdelhamid Abaaoud's body was found "riddled with bullets", the prosecutor's office said, and he was identified using skin samples.

Abaaoud, who had boasted of mounting attacks in Europe for Islamic State, was accused of orchestrating Friday's bombings and shootings in the French capital, which killed 129 people.

Abaaoud - who police originally thought was in Syria - had been linked to a series of extremist plots in France this year, including an attack by a gunman on a high-speed train which was thwarted by three Americans.

The 28-year-old was wanted on international warrants and had been sentenced in his absence in Belgium to 20 years in prison.

It has also emerged that Abaaoud was seen on CCTV at a Paris metro station while Friday's atrocities were still under way.

Abaaoud was filmed at 11.15pm at the Croix de Chavaux in Montreuil, not far from where one of the cars used in the attacks was found.

Meanwhile, Belgian media reports several witnesses have spotted Salah Abdeslam, one of the suspected Paris attacks gunmen, in Brussels.

One witness said he saw Abdeslam in Molenbeek on Tuesday evening. He said the 26-year-old wanted to meet him to get a message to his brother.

The witness told La Capitale that Abdeslam seemed to regret his actions.

"He told me it had gone too far. He was overwhelmed by what was happening. He couldn’t give himself up. It would have had consequences for his family," the witness said, believing it meant reprisals from IS.

Other witnesses reportedly saw Abdeslam in the Anderlecht area of the Belgian capital.There has been no official confirmation of these sightings.

Abdeslam, a Frenchman born in Brussels, escaped across the Belgian border hours after the Paris attacks and is still on the run.

French authorities missed an opportunity to detain him when he was questioned and released on Saturday morning.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said it remains unclear whether Abdeslam is in France or Belgium, or if there are any more cells directly linked to the Paris attackers still at large.

EU justice and interior ministers meet in Brussels today where they are expected to strengthen checks on travellers at the borders of the 26-nation bloc in the wake of the attacks last Friday.