Two prison guards have been taken hostage at a jail in north-western France, and one of the guards has been injured in the right eye, France’s justice ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said negotiations were underway to try to secure the release of the hostages at the jail in Conde-sur-Sarthe, about 250 km (155 miles) west of Paris.

Security units at the jail had been mobilized, and extra forces had been despatched to the prison, the ministry’s statement said.

French broadcaster BFMTV reported that the suspected hostage-taker was serving a long sentence for rape and murder.