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Arnaud Beltrame: Heroic French police officer dies after swapping places with civilian during Trèbes hostage siege

A French police officer who took the place of a hostage in a deadly supermarket siege has died, officials said.

Arnaud Beltrame, 45, had been left fighting for his life after he was injured during the siege in which he swapped places with a female hostage at the Super U store in the town of Trèbes in southern France on Friday.

It is believed he was hurt when police stormed the building after hearing gunshots. The gunman was killed and lieutenant colonel Beltrame was injured.

President Emmanuel Macron said the officer “fell as a hero” and showed “exceptional courage” in helping to bring an end to the a gunman’s shooting spree.

Lieutenant colonel Beltrame's death takes the number killed during the rampage to four. Sixteen people were injured.

Redouane Lakdim, a 25-year-old Moroccan-born French national from the city of Carcassonne, began his rampage began when he hijacked a car in Carcassonne, injuring the driver and killing one of the passengers whose body was later found in a bush.

He then shot at a group of police joggers, wounding one of them.

French gendarmes block an access to Trebes (AFP)
French gendarmes block an access to Trebes (AFP)

It is believed Mr Lakdim then drove the short distance to the small town of Trèbes where he stormed into the Super-U supermarket.

He killed a customer and a store worker before seizing hostages.

Mr Lakdim was known to authorities for drug-dealing and other petty crimes, but had also been under surveillance by security services in 2016-2017 for links to the radical Salafist movement, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said on Friday.

Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Beltrame offered himself up to an extremist gunman in exchange for a hostage has died of his injuries (AP)
Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Beltrame offered himself up to an extremist gunman in exchange for a hostage has died of his injuries (AP)

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack. President Macron has said security services are checking that claim.

More than 240 people have been killed in France in attacks since 2015 by assailants who either pledged allegiance to Islamic State or were inspired by the group.

France is part of a group of countries whose warplanes have been bombing Islamic State strongholds in Iraq and Syria, where the group has lost substantial ground in recent months.

Police officers secure evidence during the police operation near Trebes (EPA)
Police officers secure evidence during the police operation near Trebes (EPA)

One multiple attack by Islamist gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people in Paris while another killed close to 90 when a man ran a truck into partying crowds in the Riviera seaside city of Nice.

Lieutenant colonel Beltrame, in his mid-40s, was a qualified parachutist who served for a spell in Iraq in 2005 and also worked as part of the elite Republican Guard that protects the French president's Elysee Place offices and residence in Paris, President Macron said.

The Super U store was the first deadly attack since October 2017, when a man stabbed two young women to death in the port city of Marseille before soldiers killed him.

Several attacks over the past year or more have targeted police and soldiers deployed in big numbers to protect civilians and patrol sensitive spots such as airports and train stations.

President Macron said of lieutenant colonel Beltrame: "In offering himself as a hostage to the terrorist holed up in the Trebes supermarket, lieutenant colonel Beltrame saved the life of a civilian hostage, showing exceptional self-sacrifice and courage."

Additional reporting by Press Association