French school siege drama ends with hostages freed: official

A French nursery school hostage drama ended peacefully on Monday when the last five children held by a sword-wielding teenager were freed along with their teacher, officials said.

A French nursery school hostage drama ended peacefully on Monday when the last five children held by a sword-wielding teenager were freed along with their teacher, officials said.

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Police arrested the 17-year-old who burst into the school in the eastern city of Besancon and initially took 20 children hostage, education minister Luc Chatel said.

He released most of them over the course of the morning but kept five and their teacher for several hours in the one-storey building in the middle of a public housing estate.