A Paris region police official says 18 people have been safely evacuated after an armed robbery attempt on a suburban clothing store. The gunmen are still at large.

A group of assailants broke into the Primark discount clothing store in the town of Villeneuve-la-Garenne early Monday and several employees were trapped inside, police said.

Police surrounded the shopping center and cordoned off the neighborhood, adjacent to the Seine River about 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of central Paris.

The official, who was not authorized to be publicly named, said police are hunting the attackers in the area.