FRANCE:Robbers attacks Primark store,Ten people still trapped inside

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French special forces have evacuated up to 18 people from a mall just outside Paris after armed robbers were holed up inside for more than three hours.

As many as three armed criminals reportedly attempted to rob the Primark store in the Quartz shopping mall ub Villeneuve-la-Garenne , about 10 kilometres outside the city, in the early hours of Monday morning.


It is unclear whether the 18 people evacuated by special forces were held hostage or they hid inside the mall to escape the gunmen.

There is nothing to suggest the incident is a terrorist attack at this stage, according to local news source Le Figaro.


"Eighteen people have been evacuated ... one of them fell ill, but there are no injuries," a police source told local media.

Searches were continuing to locate the three criminals, police said.

During the ordeal, a police source told Le Figaro: "frightened, 18 store employees have entrenched themselves in a mall canteen".

Just after 7am local time a store employee texted her boyfriend: "we are being held hostage by two armed men", according to another local news site Le Parisien.

Special forces were at the scene. Police have stopped all traffic around the mall. All other shops in the area have been closed.

The incident is taking place in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, in the Hauts-de-Seine region, to the northwest of the French capital.

"Around 6.30am (0530 GMT), two or three armed criminals went into the Primark store for what we think was initially an attempt at armed robbery," according to a police source, quoted in local media, who wished to remain anonymous.

Source: Reuters