Paris: A young man armed with two swords entered a kindergarten and took children hostage in a city in eastern France, on Friday.
There were about 20 children, aged four to six, in the classroom when the incident began. The police managed to free all the hostages within hours.
The police have arrested the hostage-taker who is being described as a 17-year-old.
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.
The mayor did not know of a connection between the hostage-taker and the school.
He had released children in three groups before the incident ended, the ministry said.
A security cordon was placed around the school, and police marksmen took positions outside the school, pictures from the scene showed. They did not enter the school during the incident, the mayor said.
The incident started at 8:30 am at the Charles Fourier school in the borough of Planoise and ended about four hours later.
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.
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