The hostage taking in progress since the end of the morning at Arles prison, in the south of France, ended without injuries, the inmate who was holding five people in the medical unit having surrendered, we learned from police sources.
“The hostage taker surrendered. No injuries,” indicated the Bouches-du-Rhône police headquarters in the middle of the afternoon.
Since the morning, five people had been held hostage on Friday at Arles prison. An inmate equipped with a homemade pick and known for “significant psychiatric disorders” was holding four nursing staff and a prison guard, according to these sources. The man did not present “a terrorist profile”, underlined 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 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 file. Several intervention forces had been deployed on site.
“We have mobilized all means” to put an end to the hostage-taking, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said on X, 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.
