Scammer
Banned
Police are seen outside a kindergarten in Besancon, France, Monday where a young man held children hostage.
Paris -- A young man armed with two swords entered a kindergarten and took children hostage in eastern France Monday morning, the French Ministry of Education said.
There were about 20 children, aged four to six, in the classroom when the incident began, and five children and their teacher are still being held, Besancon police told CNN.
The hostage-taker is about 17 years old, and "has demands," the Ministry of Education said, without specifying what they are.
The hostage taker is "depressed," had been "under medical treatment," and has not taken his medication for several days, Besancon Mayor Jean-Louis Fousseret told CNN affiliate BFM TV.
Police are in contact with the man, said Jean-Marc Magda, a spokesman for the mayor.
He has released children in three groups, the ministry said.
A security cordon has been placed around the school and an elite police force, the GIPN is en route from Strasbourg to take charge of talks with the hostage taker.
Police marksmen took positions outside the school, pictures from the scene showed. They are not inside the school, the mayor said.
Education Minister Luc Chatel is on the way to the city, the ministry said.
The incident started at at 8:30 a.m. at the Charles Fourier school in the borough of Planoise.
France last had a high-profile school hostage incident 17 years ago.
Six girls and their teacher were held hostage for two days in the suburbs of Paris in 1993, media reported at the time.
A man calling himself "The Human Bomb" strapped explosives to his body and demanded about $18 million to release them.
He was killed by police marksmen using guns with silencers, press reports said.