Russian special forces shot down a man who had taken hostages in a Moscow bank on Wednesday night. / AFP PHOTO /
MOSCOW , Russia (AFP) — Russian special forces on Wednesday shot dead a man who had taken hostages at a Moscow bank, local media cited the police as saying.
“A man wearing a balaclava entered the bank and threatened the employees with an object resembling a gun,” Interfax news agency quoted the police as saying.
The man had requested 4.7 million rubles ($70,800) and 13,000 euros from a branch of the Moscow Credit Bank in the Russian capital’s east, police spokeswoman Sofia Khotina told RIA Novosti news agency.
Five hostages — all employees of the bank — were freed and a cashier had remained locked in a safe room with an armoured door, Russian news agencies quoted the police as saying.
None of the hostages were injured during the operation, the bank said in a statement.
Police did not reveal how the hostages were freed.
Investigators said they had opened a criminal probe in response to the incident.
Unnamed sources in the police told Russian news agencies that the hostage, whose identity remains unknown, had threatened to blow up the bank.
An AFP journalist at the scene saw sappers with dogs enter the bank just after 2000 GMT.
An object resembling a bomb that was found in the bank turned out not to be harmless, an unnamed law enforcement source told the RIA Novosti news agency.
gtf/pvh
© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse