Bomb squad officers arrive at scene of Le Havre hostage taking

PARIS - Bomb squad officers arrived at the bank in Le Havre, northern France, where a man armed with a handgun was on Thursday holding hostages, a senior police union official said. The official, who is in regular contact with officers involved in the operation, said there was a bag possibly containing explosives at the scene. Police have cordoned off the area and are urging the public to stay clear of the bank on Boulevard de Strasbourg in the city center, the local prefecture said. Two senior police union officials said the assailant had a history of psychiatric illness and was suspected of Islamist sympathies. The armed assailant holding four hostages in a Le Havre bank is a 34-year-old with a history of psychiatric illness, a police spokesman said on Thursday. The spokesman said the hostage-taker was carrying a gun. Le Havre's new mayor is Edouard Philippe, President Emmanuel Macron's former prime minister who resigned in early July.

Bomb squad officers arrive at scene of Le Havre hostage taking

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Bomb squad officers arrive at scene of Le Havre hostage taking

Four of the six hostages have been released.

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