Four medical staff members and a prison guard are held hostage at the prison in Arles, in France's department of Bouches-du-Rhone, local media reported, according to Euronews.

The five staff members were taken hostage on Friday morning.

The perpetrator is believed to be a prisoner armed with a makeshift bladed weapon.

A special police unit was reportedly dispatched to the prison.

France's Minister of Justice Gerald Darmanin wrote on social media platform X that all available recourses have been mobilized and that he is monitoring the situation closely.