Hostage drama: 3 freed, many still detained inside Dutch nightclub
EDE (NETHERLANDS): Three people who were held hostage for hours in a nightclub in the central town of Ede were released Saturday, police said, but they added that the “situation is not over”.
Gelderland Police announced the hostage release in a message on X, formerly Twitter. They gave no further details about whether more hostages remained in the club. Heavily armed police and special arrest teams, some wearing masks, were massed outside the popular club.
Video from the scene showed three people walking out of the club with their hands in the air following their release.
Police said in a message on X, formerly Twitter, that “at the moment there is no indication of a terrorist motive.”
Earlier Saturday, officers cordoned off a square in central Ede and evacuated about 150 nearby homes, saying that multiple people were being held hostage in a building there.
Police spokesman Simen Klok told The Associated Press people were being held hostage but he declined to give more details of the incident or say how many people were involved.
The hostages were being held in Cafe Petticoat, a popular bar and nightclub in Ede, according to a videographer at the scene.
Images from the scene in Ede, a rural market town 85 kilometres (53 miles) southeast of Amsterdam, showed police and firefighters on the streets in a cordoned-off area.
The municipality said that all shops in the centre of Ede would remain closed while the situation continued. Trains to and from the town’s station also were halted. Meanwhile, Dutch police have detained a man who walked out of a nightclub where hostages were being held after a tense hours-long standoff.
“The last hostage has just been released. One person was arrested, we cannot give more information at the moment,” police said in a message on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.
The man walked out of the club before being ordered by armed police to kneel with his hands on his head. He was then handcuffed before being led into a waiting police car.
It was not clear what the motive was for the hostage-taking. Police said earlier in a message on X that “at the moment there is no indication of a terrorist motive.”