PARIS, July 13 (UPI) -- Eighteen clothing store workers were released unharmed after an attempted robbery early Monday in a Paris suburb.
Elite military special forces were ordered in to the Primark store in the Qwartz de Villieneuve-la-Garenne mall in Hauts-de-Seine, and French police are seeking three armed men. The police response began after an employee texted her boyfriend, claiming she had been taken hostage by two armed men; there are reports the third assailant was recognized as a Primark employee.
The mall and the surround area, was closed down during the standoff, which lasted several hours. It was not immediately clear how the alleged attackers escaped the building.
A police spokesman referred to the incident as a robbery attempt, and not a hostage-taking. It came as France remains on heightened alert after January terrorist attacks in Paris killed 12 people.
