France honours 'hero' officer who took place of hostage

2018-03-25 12:01
A photo of Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Beltrame is placed on a bunch of flowers at the main gate of the Police headquarters in Carcassonne. (Emilio Morenatti, AP)

A photo of Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Beltrame is placed on a bunch of flowers at the main gate of the Police headquarters in Carcassonne. (Emilio Morenatti, AP)

Multimedia   ·   User Galleries   ·   News in Pictures Send us your pictures  ·  Send us your stories

Tributes are pouring in for a French police officer who died saving the lives of hostages in a supermarket siege in southern France on Friday.

Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Beltrame, 44, who willingly took the place of a hostage during a standoff with a gunman, died of injuries suffered in the incident early on Saturday.

The gunman, identified by prosecutors as Redouane Lakdim, who went on a shooting spree and took several people hostage, was killed and a second suspect has been arrested.

KEEP UPDATED on the latest news by subscribing to our FREE newsletter.

- FOLLOW News24 on Twitter