French PM terms hostage-taking in southern France as 'terrorist act'

PARIS - French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe Friday termed the ongoing hostage-taking in southern France as a "terrorist act."

"All the evidences we have suggest that it is a terrorist act," said the prime minister, without giving details on the attack's eventual casualties.

According to several French media, the incident began around 11 am local time (1000 GMT) when a man entered a supermarket in Trebes, near Carcassonne in the Aude prefecture in southern France, and gunshots were heard.

At least one person, a worker at a supermarket was feared dead in the attack. Several others were injured after the hostage-taker had fired several shots, media reports said.

A second person was hurt but his condition was not known, Eric Menassi, Trebes mayor told news channel BFMTV.

The hostage-taker, who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State (IS), was now alone with police in the supermarket after all other hostages had been freed, it added.

He has called for the release of Salah Abdelslam, an attacker on the Paris attacks of November 2015, BFMTV television channel reported.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb was rushing to the site.

The French anti-terrorism division of the Paris prosecutors had opened an investigation into the taking- hostage incident after the armed man held dozens of captives in a supermarket in France's southern department of Aude, media reported.