Three dead in Paris bank raid

An assailant, carrying two rifles in the centre of the picture, is flanked by two of the hostages

PARIS, France -- Three people were shot dead during an attempted bank raid on the outskirts of Paris, the French interior ministry has said.

The bank manager, a customer and a motorist whose car was taken as a getaway vehicle by the gunmen, were killed during the burglary on Saturday in the town of Cergy-Pontoise, about 20 kilometres (13 miles) north of Paris.

Two more people inside the bank sustained unspecified injuries, a spokeswoman for the prefecture of the surrounding Val d-Oise regions said.

The ministry said in a statement: "All available police resources have been immediately mobilised to find the perpetrator of these crimes and place him in the hands of justice," Reuters reported.

The gunman, who may have been joined by an accomplice, had taken 10 hostages in the bank in the town's shopping centre and gunshots had been heard.

The burglars fled before police arrived at the scene and it is unknown whether any money had been taken.