From staff and wire reports

                  ST. MARTINVILLE, Louisiana (CNN) -- The six-day hostage standoff at a Louisiana
                  jail ended Saturday night with the jail's warden and six other hostages released.

                  The end came about four hours after officials cut a hole in a wall and removed 54
                  jail inmates and detainees -- who were not involved in the standoff -- to other facilities.

                  The standoff began Monday when inmates -- five Cubans and one Bahamian -- armed
                  with homemade knives took the warden and three guards hostage while being
                  escorted to an exercise area. One guard was released after about six hours
                  as a gesture of good will.

                  Another guard, Brandon Boudreaux, was released late Thursday. Louvierre,
                  guard Jolie Sonnier and five female inmates were the last hostages released.

                  Louvierre and Sonnier were in good condition Saturday morning, even
                  though they had been shackled to chairs since Monday night, FBI Special
                  Agent Charles Mathews III said. The five female inmates being held captive
                  also were believed to be in good condition.

                  Family members of hostage takers outside the jail Saturday night said the inmates would be
                  returned to Cuba, but officials declined to discuss the settlement.

                  The captors had been held in the jail by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
                  for a variety of crimes and were awaiting deportation back to their home countries. The
                  inmates demanded to leave the United States, and said they they would go anywhere.

                  But they were in a state of legal limbo: They had served their sentences in U.S. jails, so
                  authorities say they are illegal immigrants and are subject to deportation --
                  but Cuba refuses to accept them. It was unclear what the Bahamian's status
                  may be.

                               The Associated Press contributed to this report.