GUATEMALA CITY: An armed man in a jealous rage took 42 hostages in a Guatemala City call center on Monday and threatened to detonate an explosive, police said.

National Police spokesman Donald Gonzalez said Luis Escobar, 29, overpowered a security guard at the 24/7 Call Center and took his gun late Monday. Escobar opened fire on three paramedics who tried to enter the building to talk to him.

He claimed to have an explosive and threatened to detonate it, Gonzalez said. Police officer Miguel Tzoc said Escobar was in a jealous rage over a girlfriend or former girlfriend who worked in the call center. But it was not immediately clear if she was among the hostages and Escobar had not made any public demands besides that police leave the area, Tzoc said.

Relatives of the 42 hostages began arriving at the 12-storybuilding in southern Guatemala City after hearing about the stand off on the radio.