Three explosions heard outside suspect's Toulouse apartment

Three explosions have been heard outside the Toulouse apartment building where a suspected gunman is holed up.

Three explosions were heard near an apartment building in south west France where a suspected gunman who boasted of shooting seven victims in an al Qaida-linked terror spree is holed up.

Orange flashes lit up the night sky with each blast near the Toulouse apartment building.

Police have been surrounding 24-year-old suspect, Mohamed Merah, since a pre-dawn effort to arrest him went awry.