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Russian Police Kill Bus Kidnapper, Free All Hostages
Russian police Tuesday evening set free all the hostages aboard the bus hijacked by a Chechen terrorist in south Russia's Stavropol territory, after launching a sudden attack on the kidnapper and killing him, Russian news media reported.
A police crack unit has successfully carried out the hostage- freeing operation near the Mineralnye Vody airport where the hijacked bus stops. The terrorist was killed by a sniper shot. There were no fatalities among the hostages, Itar-Tass news agency cited the anti-terrorist headquarters set up for resolving the incident as saying.
One terrorist was killed in hostage-release operation in Southern Russia. "One terrorist was killed in the operation to free hostages from a bus in Mineralnye Vody... There were no victims among the hostages," the office of Kremlin aide on Chechnya Sergei Yastrzhembsky confirmed to the press.
The passengers of the bus were taken hostage Tuesday morning near the city of Nevinnomyssk in Stavropol territory. The hostage- takers demanded access to Mineralnye Vody airport and put forward several other demands. After long negotiations, the police decided to storm the bus, and the entire hostage-freeing operation was carried out successfully, Yastrzhembsky's office announced.
Now Federal Security Service (FSB) officers are questioning released hostages in the southern Russian town of Mineralnye Vody after the FSB anti-guerrilla squad stormed the hijacked bus. The purpose of the questioning was to "determine the possible accomplices of the terrorist" who had seized the bus, Interfax news agency cited a duty officer at FSB's Stavropol branch as saying.
Some of the former hostages are "in a state of stress" and are receiving medical assistance, the officer said. He confirmed that members of the Alfa anti-guerrilla unit who stormed the bus had freed all the hostages and the hijacker had been killed.
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