Police in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, a suburb to the north of Paris, shepherded 18 people out of a Primark store on Monday morning, shortly after news of a possible hostage situation emerged. The Qwartz mall was largely evacuated as the early morning raid began, but around 18 staff members had taken refuge in their canteen.

French news agency AFP cited a police source as saying that these people were no longer inside the building, also saying that officers were inside trying to ascertain what had taken place inside.

According to sources, officers from the French specialist police unit RAID conducted the evacuation. One woman was described as "in discomfort," but "not wounded."

Police were still looking for the suspected gunmen inside the shopping center.

Early reports from police, prior to the operation to clear the trapped staff, worked on the assumption of an attempted armed robbery.

"Around 6:30 a.m. (0430 UTC/GMT), two or three armed criminals went into the Primark store for what we think was initially an attempt at armed robbery," French news agency AFP quoted a police source as saying.

Security camera footage showed three people entering the building, one of whom reportedly resembled a staff member.

A separate police official had later said that a woman working inside the Primark store, an Irish high street clothes retailer, had "sent a text message to her boyfriend around 7:00 a.m. to tell him they were being held hostage by two armed men."

msh/sst (AFP, AP, Reuters)