Iranian armed with axe killed by police after seizing hostages on Swiss train
An Iranian asylum seeker was fatally shot by police after wielding an axe and a knife to take more than a dozen hostages for several hours on a train in western Switzerland.
Fortunately, no passengers sustained injuries during the ordeal.
According to authorities in the French-speaking Vaud region, the 32-year-old man initiated the hostage situation on Thursday evening. Upon receiving alerts from passengers, police swiftly cordoned off the area when the train halted in the town of Essert-sous-Champvert.
All hostages were successfully liberated unharmed. However, the hostage-taker sustained mortal injuries during the police operation.
In their official statement, the police mentioned that the man, who spoke Farsi and English, demanded the train engineer to join the 15 hostages.
Following nearly four hours of negotiation attempts with the assistance of an interpreter, the police eventually stormed the train. Over 60 officers were involved in the operation.
Vincent Derouand, a spokesperson for the Vaud prosecutors’ office, confirmed that an investigation is underway to ascertain the motives behind the incident.
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