Bungled robbery in Roubaix sparks fear of another terrorist attack in France

A hostage taker was reportedly killed by security forces in the northern French town of Roubaix last night in an incident that sparked fears of another Paris-style attack.

However, a police source told Reuters that it was not a terrorist attack.

Local French media also reported that one of the hostage takers had been arrested.

Local prosecutor Frédéric Fèvre said others were still on the run.

Witnesses reported gunfire at 7pm local time, prompting an enormous police response in an area riven with tension following the November 13 attacks on Paris that killed at least 130 people.

One killed as hostage standoff ends in French town #Roubaix, officials say no terrorist link https://t.co/EDH9afyUPF pic.twitter.com/ASLcP6Ps78

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 24, 2015

Several armed men were found holed up in a house in Roubaix, a city a kilometre from the Belgian border, following a burglary gone wrong, taking a male bank official and a woman and two children, believed to be the man’s family, hostage.

Police raided the premises and brought the incident to an end at about 10.30pm local time

Some of the men have been arrested, according to police sources quoted by AFP.

The hostages are “safe”, said sources, but that there were some injuries.