The young boy held hostage in Alabama is safe and well after being freed by police.

The 5-year-old, identified only as Ethan, was held for almost a week before police stormed the bunker where a kidnapper held him hostage.

SOUNDBITE: STEVE RICHARDSON, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, SAYING (English):

"I can tell you that I've been to the hospital. I have visited with Ethan. He is doing fine. He is laughing, joking, playing, eating, the things that you would expect a normal five to six-year-old young man to do. He's very brave, he's very lucky and his success story is that he is out safe and doing great."

The abductor - named as 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes - died in the operation.

Officials have yet to confirm how he lost his life, saying it's part of an ongoing investigation.

The incident began last Tuesday (January 29) when Dykes boarded a school bus and shot the driver before abducting the boy.

Police say they stormed his homemade bunker as the child was in danger.