Dutch club standoff ends; hostages OK
EDE, Netherlands — Dutch police detained a man Saturday after he left a nightclub where four people had been held hostage for hours, bringing a peaceful end to a tense standoff.
“We are exceptionally happy that it ended this way. That the victims came out safely and that we were able to arrest this suspect without using violence,” said Marthyne Kunst, head of the regional public prosecutor’s office.
There was no immediate word on a motive, but police and prosecutors said they did not believe it was a terrorist incident. Police said the hostage-taker was armed with knives, and a backpack he carried was being examined to establish if it contained explosives.
The hostage-taking in the central Dutch market town of Ede, 53 miles southeast of Amsterdam, ended around midday when a man walked out of the Cafe Petticoat club and was ordered by armed police to kneel with his hands on his head. He was then handcuffed before being led into a waiting police car.
Kunst told reporters that the man was known to law enforcement authorities and had previously been convicted of threatening behavior.
Ede Mayor René Verhulst said the suspect was a Dutch citizen.
Earlier, three young hostages walked out of the club with their hands above their heads. A fourth person was released shortly before the suspect was arrested. The hostages were all workers at the club.
Heavily armed police and special arrest teams had gathered outside the popular club. Some 150 nearby homes were evacuated and trains did not stop at the town’s station.