Montpellier siege: Hostages taken at jewellery store

A third hostage crisis is underway after a gunman locked himself in a jewellery store in Montpellier, Southern France.

The new incident is evolving shortly after hostages were freed in Paris and Charlie Hebdo attack suspects Cherif and Said Kouachi killed in Northern France.

According to the media, two people are being held in a jewellery shop on La Rue du l’Argenterie, in the center of Montpellier. The police have surrounded the area.

The suspect had been holding the two employees – women of 30 and 40 years old – for several hours, threatening them with a gun before a police negotiator managed to establish a contact with him. No one was killed or wounded, local Midi Libre said.

Special police forces arrived on the scene along with the region’s prosecutor and Montpellier mayor.

According to Montpellier prosecutor Christophe Barret, cited by Midi Libre, the situation is “very calm“ and there is no reason to connect the new siege with the events in Paris and in Northern France.

“It was a robbery, it has nothing to do with what is happening in Paris,” Christophe Barret said.