An inmate took five staff hostage at a prison in southern French city Arles on Friday, police and prison service sources said.
The prisoner armed with a handmade shank had been holding four nurses and one prison guard in the infirmary since around 11:15am (1015 GMT), the prison service source said.
Multiple sources said the 37-year-old hostage-taker, serving a sentence for armed rape, suffered from 鈥榮ignificant psychiatric disturbances鈥�.
The prison service source added that he did not have the 鈥榩rofile of a terrorist鈥�.
The inmate was demanding to be moved to a different prison, a source familiar with the case said, adding that 鈥榯he situation remains calm鈥�.
Police response forces including the elite RAID unit were on the scene.
鈥榃e鈥檝e mobilised all our resources鈥� to end the stand-off, justice minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X, adding that he was 鈥榝ollowing the development of the situation in real time鈥�.
The man is set to remain in jail until 2031, the source familiar with the case said.
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