Five people were held hostage on Friday in Arles prison (Bouches-du-Rhône), police and prison sources told AFP, confirming information from La Provence.
An inmate equipped with a homemade pick and known for “significant psychiatric disorders” is holding back four nursing staff and a prison guard, several sources reported.
The man does not present “a terrorist profile”, according to a prison source.
The hostage-taking began around 11:15 a.m. in the health unit of the Arles central house, said a prison source.
“The situation remains calm,” said a source close to the matter.
The 37-year-old man was incarcerated for rape at gunpoint. He says he wants to “change prison centers”, according to the source close to the matter.
Several intervention forces, including the Raid, were deployed on site.
“We have mobilized all means” to put an end to the hostage-taking, indicated on X the Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin, saying he was following “the evolution of the situation in real time”.
The inmate was eligible for release in 2031, said the source close to the case.
published on January 3 at 1:32 p.m., AFP
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