Swiss Police Kill Axe-Wielding Iranian Hostage Taker on Train

A special police unit stormed a train in western Switzerland and killed an Iranian asylum seeker armed with an axe and a knife who was holding 15 people hostage.

The hostage-taking began around 6.35pm on February 8, when the 32-year-old assailant forced the train driver to leave his post to join the 14 passengers in the train, police said.

The train had been immobilized with its doors closed at the Essert-sous-Champvent station, in the canton of Vaud.

Nearly four later, the police stormed the train and killed the attacker. Everyone on the train was released unharmed. 

“As the hostage-taker rushed with his axe in the direction of the intervention group, a police officer used his weapon to protect the hostages, fatally hitting the perpetrator,” said Jean-Christophe Sauterel, spokesperson for the Vaud cantonal police.

The Iranian man died on the spot, despite the presence of a doctor among the police intervention squad. 

According to initial information, the man was an Iranian asylum seeker assigned to canton Neuchâtel who spoke Persian and English. 

Attorney General Eric Kaltenrieder said that his motivations have not been established, nor his psychological state.