Paris:
French special forces have evacuated 18 people who had been hiding in a mall near Paris today after gunmen attacked a Primark store inside the centre, police said.
According to reports, two-three gunmen were holed up inside the store with about 10 people held hostage in what appears to be an attempt to rob the shop, police said.
"Around 6:30 am (0430 GMT), two or three armed criminals went into the Primark store for what we think was initially an attempt at armed robbery," a police source, who wished to remain anonymous, said of the incident at Villeneuve-la-Garenne.
Another police source said an employee first alerted her boyfriend of the hold-up around 7 am when she sent him a text message saying they had been taken hostage by two armed men.
Police have stopped all traffic in the area around the Qwartz mall where the Primark store is located, and all other shops in the vicinity have closed up.