By Julianna Frieman
Swiss police shot and killed an axe-wielding asylum seeker Thursday night who allegedly took hostages on a train.
The 32-year-old suspect, who was reportedly from Iran, allegedly took 15 passengers hostage in the carriage of the train near Yverdon, including the vehicle’s driver, BBC News reported.
Swiss police have shot dead a 32-year-old Iranian “asylum-seeker” after he used an axe and a knife to seize more than a dozen hostages for several hours on a train in western Switzerland pic.twitter.com/E7LgYtuAFk
— Sick Of It 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@WayneGb88) February 9, 2024
More than 60 police officers, including a special unit from Geneva, stormed the train and “fatally wounded” the suspect, who was allegedly armed with an axe and a knife, according to the outlet. The suspect allegedly attacked the officers, who engaged in gunfire against the suspect immediately when they determined that he was a danger to those on the train, the outlet reported.
Police were unsuccessful in their attempts to speak to the suspect in both English and Farsi before they entered the train, according to the outlet.
Passengers alerted authorities of the alleged hostage situation before the police arrived, according to local media reports. Officers used stun grenades to storm the train as soon as the suspect moved away from the hostages, BBC News reported. (RELATED: Trump Calls For Release Of Jan 6 ‘Hostages’)
All hostages were released from the train without any injuries, the outlet reported. Swiss health services are supporting the hostages and their families through their psychological department.
Police said the motivations of the suspect taking hostages were unknown. Information regarding the suspect, who was assigned to an asylum seeker center in Neuchatel, is scarce, according to the outlet. One passenger on the train at the time of the incident reportedly described the suspect as “very stressed.”
