Suspected gunman holed up in Japan post office with hostages - authorities
31/10/2023 09:13
TOKYO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - A suspected gunman has taken
people hostage inside a post office in Japan after injuring two
at a hospital, local authorities said on Tuesday.
The government of the city of Warabi, located just north of
Tokyo, said in a statement an unidentified number of "hostages"
were taken by a man "in possession of something like a handgun".
At least two female post office workers in their 20s and 30s
are among the hostages, according to local media.
The man, between 40 and 50 years old, was earlier involved
in a shooting incident at a hospital in the neighbouring city of
Toda and later fled the scene, municipal authorities there said.
Two people were injured at the hospital, local media reported.
Images broadcast from outside the post office on Japanese
television showed a man wearing a track suit top and white shirt
brandishing what looked like a pistol. Several police officers
wearing body armour stood nearby.
(Reporting by Sugiyama Satoshi, Sakura Murakami and Tim Kelly;
Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
((John.Geddie@thomsonreuters.com; +81 80 7264 2833;))