An armed man demanding deposits frozen by his bank took an unspecified number of hostages on Thursday at the Federal Bank of Lebanon, Reuters reported, citing a security source.

The man entered the bank's branch in the Hamra neighborhood in west Beirut just before noon on Thursday with a firearm. Some customers managed to flee before he shut the doors on the rest, according to the source, who was not able to specify how many clients or employees were in the branch.

"He demanded access to around $200,000 he had in his bank account and when the employee refused the request, he began screaming that his relatives were in the hospital. Then he pulled out the gun," the security source said.