Hostages seized at French store

A French hostage siege is over, local media say, several hours after armed men took six people captive at a supermarket in the suburbs of Paris.

Police said a gang of men attacked the Lidl discount store in Sevran, north of the capital, at around 0800 (0600 GMT). Police surrounded the scene and made contact with the hostage-takers, BBC News reports.

The police official says an elite police intervention squad is on the scene to try to negotiate with the hostage-takers. The area around the shop has been cordoned off, AP informs.

Two suspects were seen emerging from the LIDL store, in an industrial zone in Sevran north of Paris, with their hands in the air before being handcuffed and escorted away from the scene by police.

The Paris management of the LIDL store said all six hostages had been freed unharmed, AFP report.