Swiss police fatally shoot Iranian man who seized hostages on train with axe and knife

• Swiss police fatally shot an Iranian man after he took over a train with an axe and knife, holding more than a dozen hostages in western Switzerland.
• The hostage situation occurred on Thursday evening, prompting police to block off the area as the train was halted.
• After nearly four hours and failed negotiations, police intervened, storming the train with over 60 officers.

Swiss police say a 32-year-old Iranian asylum-seeker was killed by police after he used an axe and a knife to seize more than a dozen hostages for several hours on a train in western Switzerland. No passengers were injured.

The man took the hostages early Thursday evening and police, alerted by passengers, sealed off the area while the train was stopped in the town of Essert-sous-Champvert, police in the French-speaking Vaud region said Friday.

The man, speaking Farsi and English, demanded that the train engineer join the 15 hostages.

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Nearly four hours after the incident began, police stormed the train after trying to negotiate with the man through an interpreter. More than 60 police were involved.

Swiss police officers watch the train where a hostage-taking incident took place on Feb. 8, 2024, at Essert-sous-Champvent station in Switzerland. Police say a 32-year-old Iranian man was killed by police after he used an axe and a knife to seize more than a dozen hostages for several hours on a train. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)

"The hostages were all freed safe and sound," a police statement said. "The hostage-taker was mortally injured during the operation."

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Vincent Derouand, a spokesperson for the Vaud prosecutors' office, said an investigation was underway in part to determine the man’s motive.