Thread: Axe-wielding migrant who took 15 people hostage in Switzerland wanted to go to Englan

Axe-wielding migrant who took 15 people hostage in Switzerland wanted to go to England


Our Foreign Staff
Fri, February 9, 2024 at 10:03 AM EST·3 min read



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Fourteen passengers and the train driver were taken hostage at 6.06pm on Thursday night - Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty



A migrant armed with an axe who took 15 people hostage on a Swiss train spoke about wanting to go to England.

The man is believed to be a 32-year-old Iranian asylum seeker, police have said, after ruling out a terrorist motive for the hostage-taking on Thursday evening.

He was fatally wounded after a four-hour stand-off, which ended with the 14 passengers and train driver being released unharmed.

Video footage of the man, who was armed with an axe and a knife, addressing the passengers on the train has emerged on social media.

Officers blocked a road leading to the train station at Essert-sous-Champvent - Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty



In a mix of Farsi and English, he said he would like to go to England. “There is no work here,” he said after mentioning a “problem with sending people away”.

He also talked about Ukraine, saying, “Not Ukraine, back to Switzerland,” after earlier declaring: “Democracy is not good. Not these people.”

Swiss media has speculated that the man could have been facing expulsion from Switzerland and was possibly suffering from psychological problems.

The man took the hostages at about 6.06pm on Thursday in the French-speaking Vaud region of Western Switzerland.

Police, alerted by passengers, sealed off the area while the train was stopped in the town of Essert-sous-Champvent.

Hostage negotiators spoke to the man, using a Farsi-speaking interpreter and the WhatsApp messaging platform. Snipers were also deployed during the stand-off.

After almost four hours, police took action when the man briefly moved away from his hostages.

Explosives were used to distract him and move him further from the hostages, as police stormed the train at about 10.15pm.

The dramatic moment when the explosions light up the dark around the train was captured by onlookers on their smartphones and shared online.

The armed hostage-taker charged at an officer, who shot him dead. More than 60 officers were involved.

Jean-Christophe Sauterel, a spokesman for the Vaud police, said on Thursday: “There is no evidence to suggest an act of terrorism. Neither terrorist nor jihadist.

“The hostages were all freed safe and sound,” a police statement said. “The hostage-taker was mortally injured during the operation.”

A 20-year-old passenger told the Blick tabloid: “I was on the way home from work. When I saw the man and heard him screaming, I initially thought he was drunk or on drugs.

“You see people like that all the time on the train. But they are harmless. Suddenly I noticed that he had a weapon. It was a small axe.”

He said the man appeared stressed but did not know what he wanted or what his motive was.

Vincent Derouand, a spokesman for the Vaud prosecutors’ office, said an investigation was underway in part to determine the man’s motive.

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https://www.yahoo.com/news/swiss-pol...103326334.html

We need to END all asylum, refugee, TPS and illegal alien programs.

These 3rd world violent, mentally ill, feral animals need to be sent back and refused entry into our countries.