Very tense moments Friday evening west of Montreal.

Quebec's provincial police reported a hostage-taking at a bank in Valleyfield.

A man is accused of taking four people hostage. He's described as being in his 50's, and a Valleyfield resident. His identity or a motive have not been identified.

Police were called to the scene after a bank employee hit a panic button at 4:50 p.m. Friday.

The first hostage was released around 8:30 p.m., the other three were released near 10 p.m.

"We did not communicate the information because we did not want to interfere with communication with the suspect," said police spokesperson Ingrid Asselin in French.

After several hours of negotiations, the suspect surrendered peacefully to police around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.

He was taken to hospital to be assessed.

Police say the man was armed but did not confirm what the weapon was.

Asselin added that the man could face sequestration and weapon possession related charges and

Nobody was injured.