Several people, including an Indian techie, were taken hostage by an armed man at a popular cafe in Sydney and forced to display an Islamic flag, triggering a security alert in Australia and leading to evacuation of key buildings, including the Indian Consulate here.
At a glance * Australian police monitoring social media reports of gunman demands * Infosys employee among hostages * Hostage drama has been under way for several hours * Police say one armed assailant involved * Indications incident is politically motivated - PM Abbott * Australia on high alert |
The incident happened at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Martin Place, the heart of Sydney’s business district.
Authorities sealed off surrounding streets, evacuated people from buildings, and suspended rail services following the siege in the capital of New South Wales (NSW).
NSW Police have activated Task Force Pioneer, which they use in terrorism related incidents, to handle the pre-Christmas incident.
The gunman is being described as being in his forties, wearing a black vest. Police said they are in contact with the gunman.
NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn confirmed that the situation was now a “negotiation” and the police intend to pursue it “peacefully.
Deputy Commissioner Burn: "Negotiators remain on scene. Investigators are trying to work out the offender's motivations."
>#MartinPlace
— NSW Police (@nswpolice)
>December 15, 2014“There is speculation about what he might want but we have to deal with him at the level of police negotiation,” Burn says.
“We are monitoring all forms of communication, whether it is Facebook or Twitter, for any bit of information that might assist,” she said.
Burn requested that if anyone has information about the situation, no matter how small, they should offer it to police.
Sydney’s Muslim community condemned the incident and said they were horrified by the cafe siege.
Martin Place — a public pedestrian thoroughfare through the heart of Australia’s biggest city, joining its parliamentary, legal and retail districts — Sydney Opera House, State Library, US consulate and all court houses here have been evacuated.
Andrew Scipione, the commissioner of the New South Wales police, said at a news briefing that an unknown number of hostages were being held in the cafe by at least one gunman.
“We will continue this investigation, we will get to the bottom of it and at this stage, all I can assure you, we are doing absolutely all we can and we will do even more to guarantee the safe release of these people,” Scipione said.
Scipione said at this stage police were treated it as a hostage situation but were “on a footing consistent with a terrorist act“.
“Clearly reprisal attacks are something that should not happen,” he said.
Infosys employee among hostages
Bengaluru—headquartered Infosys said one of its employees is among the hostages at the cafe.
“We can confirm that one Infosys employee is among the hostages at the Lindt Cafe in Sydney,” the company said in a statement without naming the person.
“We are also in the process of confirming the whereabouts of all our other employees in the city. We are in constant touch with the local authorities and Indian Consulate in Sydney for updates on the situation on ground,” Infosys said.
1/3 The National Security Committee has been briefed by
>@mikebairdMP and NSW Police Commissioner Scipione on the situation in
>#MartinPlace
— Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR)
>December 15, 20142/3 I'm proud of the way police and security bodies have responded to the disturbing events today.
— Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR)
>December 15, 20143/3 It’s been a difficult day, which has tested us, but like Australians in all sorts of situations, we have risen to the challenge.
— Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR)
>December 15, 2014Five hostages run out
Just over five hours into the siege, five people, including a woman, were seen running out of the cafe. Two came out through the front door and one through the fire escape. It is still not known whether they were freed or escaped.
Television footage showed people inside the cafe with their hands pressed against the window holding the black flag with Arabic script known as Shahadah, a prayer spoken in mosques daily. The flag displayed was not one specific to the Islamic State, reports said.
The government said there was no clear motivation but the flag appeared to be one commonly used by jihadist groups.
“There is no God but Allah; Mohammed is his messenger” was written on the black flag.
New South Wales Premier Mike Baird said the safety of the people was the priority of the government and the best negotiators in the world were on the job.
He asked people in Sydney to go about their days as usual tomorrow, though an exclusion zone will be in place around Martin Place.
Indian Consulate shut
>Indian Consulate in Sydney has been locked down and evacuated as a security measure following the incident.
Talking to PTI, Sydney Consul General Sunjay Sudhir said: “Because of security concerns we locked down our office at 12:00 pm and asked all our officers to go to places of safety.”
“Sydney Indian Consulate is 400 metres away from the Lindt cafe,” Sudhir said adding the Central Business District is the area where many Indian establishments, including the SBI, Bank of Baroda and India Tourism office are located.
In New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said Indian consulate in Sydney is in touch with local authorities and all the staffers in the consulate are safe.
“Our consulate is in touch with local authorities. The External Affairs Minister has spoken to the High Commissioner in Canberra who is in touch with local organisations,” Akbaruddin said.
Abbott convenes security meet
Prime Minister Tony Abbott convened a national security meeting to deal with the disturbing event.
“This is obviously a deeply concerning incident but all Australians should be reassured that our law enforcement and security agencies are well trained and equipped and are responding in a thorough and professional manner,” he said.
“We don’t yet know the motivation of the perpetrator, we don’t know whether this is politically motivated, although obviously there are some indications that it could be,” Abbott said at a short media briefing held in Canberra, Australia’s capital.
Abbott said security agencies had not detected any particular plots but the raised alert level meant there were people in Australia with the “intent and capability” to carry out a terror attack.
Hundreds of police had been mobilised, including those specially trained for terrorist threats, tactical officers and negotiators to general duties officers and traffic police handling road closures.
Thousands of workers across the city have been sent home early and asked to work from there.
Dozens of armed police surrounded the cafe in Martin Place after the siege began around 9:45 a.m. (22:45 GMT on Sunday). The area is home to the Reserve Bank of Australia, commercial banks and close to the New South Wales state parliament.
"I walked up to the door and then everyone was sitting down and the door locked which is pretty weird because it's never locked and there was one guy walking around with a hat and a beard," a man who identified himself as Bruno, a worker at the cafe, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp, referring to the suspected assailant. He said he then turned away.
Lindt Australia Chief Executive Steve Loane told Sky Business there were about 10 staff at the cafe and "probably 30 customers" although he said that was an estimate.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said staff had been locked down inside the building and were all safe.
The nearby US consulate was also evacuated, according to an embassy spokeswoman, along with the Sydney Opera House. Tourists were being let back into the world-famous venue by early afternoon.
BANKS AND SHOPS CLOSE
In the biggest security operation in Sydney since a bombing at the Hilton Hotel killed two people in 1978, major banks closed their offices in the central business district and people were told to avoid the area, leaving large parts of the area all but deserted by mid-afternoon.
Traders in currency markets said the hostage news may have contributed to a dip in the Australian dollar, which was already under pressure from global risk aversion as oil prices fell anew.
Ray Hadley, a radio disc jockey, said he had been contacted by a hostage and could hear the suspected gunman issuing orders in the background. Police declined to comment.
In September, anti-terrorism police said they had thwarted an imminent threat to behead a random member of the public and days later, a teenager in the city of Melbourne was shot dead after attacking two anti-terrorism officers with a knife.
The incident in Sydney is disturbing. Such acts are inhuman & deeply unfortunate. I pray for everyone's safety.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi)
>December 15, 2014