Talks bid to free hostage prison guards

Tense negotiations were continuing today with armed prisoners holding two guards hostage at a high security Paris prison - nearly 20 hours after a failed escape attempt via helicopter.

Up to 60 members of a crack police squad were posted inside Fresnes prison while authorities tried to get the two hostage-takers to surrender.

A third guard critically injured by three bullets, when gunfire broke out during the escape attempt, was being treated at a nearby hospital.

Meanwhile, police were searching for accomplices who hijacked a helicopter and flew over the Fresnes prison courtyard on Sunday afternoon, dropping weapons inside and causing chaos.

Police found the helicopter abandoned at a sports stadium near the town of Fresnes, with blood stains inside it, police said.

The two prisoners holding the hostages were equipped with a bullet-proof vest, an automatic pistol and a Kalashnikov, according to officials.

The prefect of the Val-de-Marne region, Pierre Mirabaud, state prosecutor Michel Barrau and a negotiator from the crack police squad RAID were trying to negotiate a peaceful outcome to the drama.

The hostage-takers had not made clear their demands, beyond water and bandages, police said.

The wife of one of the hostages-takers tried overnight to coax the pair out, but was unsuccessful.

At one point, there were fears of a massive riot among the 1,800 prisoners at Fresnes, some 300 of whom refused at one point to return to their cells and called for a revolt.

Prisoners were returned to their cells by 2am, prison officials said.