Hostage drama in ex-Soviet republic: gunman holds twelve people prisoner – explosive devices in bank?
Created: 09/20/2022, 17:41
By: Patrick Mayer
During a hostage-taking in Georgia, a suspected armed man holed himself up in a bank with allegedly twelve hostages.
The police are on site with special forces.
Munich/Kutaisi - During a hostage-taking in the Georgian city of Kutaisi, a suspected hostage-taker allegedly took control of up to twelve people.
This was announced by the Ministry of Interior of Georgia on Tuesday (September 20).
As
FOCUS Online
reports, a mobile phone video taken by one of the hostages released by the broadcaster Mtawari TV shows two suspected explosive devices near the front door of the bank.
"He demands two million dollars within three hours," a female hostage is quoted as saying in another cellphone video.
The man has a grenade and there are "bombs that will explode".
As photos from various news agencies show, the police are on site with heavily armed forces.
The Bank of Georgia building is therefore surrounded.
As of 5:30 p.m., there were no reports of whether the bank had been stormed.
Kutaisi hostage-taking: Allegedly twelve people in violence by gunmen
Police forces on site: A hostage-taking is causing concern in the second largest Georgian city of Kutaisi.
© Gela Gogokhia / AFP
Kutaisi has almost 150,000 inhabitants, is the third largest city in Georgia and is located in the west of the Caucasus country.
Almost two years ago, a gunman took 43 hostages at a Bank of Georgia branch in the western city of Zugdidi.
He escaped with an undisclosed amount of money, and there is no trace of him to this day.
The hostages were released unharmed.
It is not known whether there is a connection.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the police in Kutaisi are investigating "hostage-taking and acts of terrorism".
In this news ticker we will keep you up to date on the Kutaisi hostage-taking.
(pm)
