A hostage-taking of two prison guards by two dangerous prisoners in Sweden ended with their release Wednesday evening after nine hours of negotiations and an improbable delivery of twenty kebab pizzas to the prison.
The guards, who were released in two stages in the evening,
"were not injured, and will be reunited with their families,"
Stina Lyles, a spokesperson for the Swedish prison administration, told AFP.
Read also: The increase in the number of hostage-taking, a reality difficult to define
At around 12.30 p.m. local time (10.30 a.m. GMT) on Wednesday, two inmates at the Hällby high-security penitentiary center, near the town of Eskilstuna, managed to break into the space reserved for prison guards, according to the account of Torkel Omnell, another prison official.
Inside were two prison guards, who were immediately taken hostage.
Then "we dispatched a mediator on the spot" and the police were mobilized, explained Mr. Omnell.
Two conditions had been set to free the hostages, according to several Swedish media: a helicopter to escape, and twenty pizzas strewn with kebab meat to share between detainees.
"Yes, pizzas have been delivered,"
Stina Lynes confirmed to AFP.
A local pizzeria, Hällby Pizzeria, also confirmed having fulfilled the unusual order, while explaining that it ran out of meat.
“They
(the prison administration, editor's note)
didn't say much when they ordered.
And I was not paid, they just came to get the pizzas and left, ”
SVT Beshar Toma, the pizza maker, told public television.
The two detainees, both serving long sentences for murder, were transferred to the police station for questioning for
"kidnapping"
, police said.
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