French police sources told AFP on Friday that five hostages had been taken at Arles prison in the south of the country.

The agency quoted a source at the prison as saying that an inmate with a white gun was holding four nurses and a guard, adding that the man had a history of mental crises.

The French website BFM reported that emergency teams were on their way to the scene.

A prisoner has detained several members of the prison staff at Arles central prison, adding that emergency teams and regional intervention teams are on their way to the scene and that the police are already on the scene.