Police enter apartment as explosions heard near Toulouse stand-off

French police are inside the apartment where the suspected gunman Mohammed Merah has been holed up, according to sources quoted by AFP news agency.

Three loud explosions have been heard near the apartment block in Toulouse where the gunman, who is alleged to have killed seven people, is involved in a stand-off with police.

The explosions were heard around half an hour ago and an ambulance was then seen passing through a security cordon.

Earlier, France's interior minister said the authorities want to bring Merah alive so that he can face justice after he revealed that the suspect wants to “die with weapons in his hands”.

The minister, Claude Gueant said authorities have not had contact with the man since last night.

Hundreds of French police have surrounded the apartment since the early hours of Wednesday and are working to try to capture the suspect, Mohamed Merah.

Authorities say Merah has boasted about carrying out the shootings of three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi, and three French paratroopers.