BERLIN, Germany – Swiss police shot and killed an Iranian asylum seeker who had taken 15 people hostage on a train in the town of Essert-sous-Champvent in the Swiss canton of Vaud. The 32-year-old man, armed with an ax and knife, held the hostages for nearly four hours on Thursday night.
According to authorities, the hostages were all released unharmed, but the hostage-taker was fatally wounded during the police intervention. The ordeal began at approximately 6:35 p.m. local time when the train driver was forced to leave his post and join the passengers on the train. Police said the hostage taker spoke a mixture of Farsi and English.
Around 60 officers arrived at the scene and closed off the area, which is located about 40 miles west of the Swiss capital of Bern, after being alerted by the people trapped on the train. Negotiations were carried out with the help of a Farsi interpreter and partially over the messaging service WhatsApp on the hostages’ cellphones. Eventually, authorities decided to storm the train.
A video clip posted online showed several strong, very bright explosions accompanied by loud detonations in quick succession. Police later addressed the video and explained that the blasts were a tactic to separate the man from the hostages. The hostage-taker was shot by an officer after he stormed toward the emergency team with his ax and died at the scene.
The hostages received medical and psychological care and were taken to a police station for questioning. The motive behind the incident remains unclear, with authorities stating that there is no evidence pointing to a terrorist or jihadist act. Investigations to clarify the circumstances of the attack are ongoing, according to police.