Hostage taking in progress at Arles prison, near Marseille: first person released

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This Friday, January 3, 2025, an inmate from Arles prison, in Bouches-du-Rhône, taken hostage a member of the surveillance staff and four employees of the medical profession, learns Marseille newsconfirming initial information from Provence.

He is in possession of homemade picks, which serve as weapons.

A hostage taking at Arles prison

A hostage taking has been underway at Arles prison since the end of the morning. The inmate would be held in the infirmary of the penitentiary center.

On site, specialized teams from the prison administration are mobilized and a RAID branch will intervene, activated by the prefect, Pierre-Edouard Colliex, a police source tells us.

The detainee reported as “radicalized” in 2013

According to the regional daily, the prisoner is 37 years old and is said to have been guilty of several offenses in the past. France Blue reports that he was in fact incarcerated for acts of rape, at gunpoint.

Born in Guyana, he was reported as radicalized in 2013, even if the current event is rather linked to a conflict following a refusal to transfer.

Gérald Darmanin, new Minister of Justice present this Thursday in Marseille, explains on his X account to follow “the evolution of the situation in real time”. The police chief was on site, accompanied by the public prosecutor, we learned.

A first hostage released

At 3 p.m., a first hostage, a doctor at the prison, was released, informed theAFP.

More information to come on Marseille news.

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