Afp
Updated Friday, February 9, 2024-09:49
The perpetrator of
a train hijacking in Switzerland
on Thursday night was "mortally injured" during the assault to free the hostages, who are safe and sound, Swiss police said.
The perpetrator of the kidnapping was
"a 32-year-old Iranian asylum seeker"
who was armed with an ax and a knife and spoke in Farsi and English, Vaud canton police spokesman Jean-Christophe Sauterel said in a statement. Press conference.
The police and judicial authorities present at the conference said
they did not know the reasons for the kidnapping.
The police spokesman insisted that the identification of the assailant was not yet fully verified.
An agent
shot down the kidnapper
when he lunged at him with the ax raised, authorities explained.
The intervention group had managed to enter the immobilized train and place themselves between the assailant and the fifteen hostages (14 passengers and the engineer).
The kidnapping lasted about
four hours
, from 6:35 p.m. to around 10:30 p.m. The train was stopped at the Essert-sous-Champvent station, a few kilometers from the tourist lake of Neuchâtel.
The passengers alerted law enforcement, who began negotiations with the kidnapper through WhatsApp messages and with the help of an interpreter of Farsi, the majority language in Iran.
Finally, the authorities decided to attack the convoy at 10:15 p.m.
In a video broadcast by the social network X, strong and bright explosions are observed around the train. The police spokesman explained that it was a distraction maneuver to distance the kidnapper from the hostages.
The authorities opened a criminal investigation into the events.