A gunman on Tuesday (September 20th) took 12 people hostage in a bank in central Georgia, demanding to receive large sums of money, authorities in this Caucasus country announced.
According to the Georgian Ministry of the Interior, the suspect is entrenched in a branch of the Bank of Georgia in Kutaisi, a city of about 150,000 inhabitants.
"
At the moment there are 12 hostages in the building
," he said in a statement.
The police were deployed on the spot and an investigation opened for "
terrorist act, hostage-taking and carrying a weapon
", according to the same source.
“He claims two million dollars”
Independent broadcaster
Mtavari TV
aired a video taken by one of the hostages on his phone, appearing to show two explosive devices near the front door.
The hostage taker “
said they are bombs that will explode if the door is opened
,” this person said.
In another video, an armed man, in military fatigues and wearing a mask, can be seen inside the bank.
A female voice said, "
He wants two million dollars in three hours. "
He has a grenade and there are bombs that will explode
”.
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In October 2020, a gunman took 43 people hostage at a Bank of Georgia branch in the western city of Zugdidi.
He had freed all the hostages, escaping with an unknown amount of money, never to be found.