At least one person has died after a masked gunman burst into a retirement home for monks near Montpellier and took hostages. The gunman was said to be armed with a sawn-off shotgun and knife as he entered the home in Montferrier-sur-Lez which is residence to around 70 monks. There is a large police presence at the scene and at around midnight, 16 monks were pulled to safety with response forces having reached the second and third floors, reports Le Parisien. Later in the night reports said that as many as 59 residents had been recovered safely. It is thought that one victim was a female housekeeper but there are also unconfirmed reports a man has died. According to Metropolitan, the alarm was raised by a housekeeper, who it is claimed contacted police after escaping the home where she was tied up and gagged. The gunman is still believed to be in the building. France is on high alert after a series of terror attacks in the past year, but as yet the gunman’s motives are unclear. Montpellier is on France’s Mediterranean coast not far from Nice where 86 people died following after a lorry was driven down its promenade on Bastille Day. The nursing home, African Missions, is for monks and priests was established since 1994 run by an association Les Chenes Verts. | Metro News
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