Hamburg [Germany], March 11: German police on March 10 said they had arrested a suspect after special forces stormed a pharmacy in the city of Karlsruhe, where several people had been held hostage for hours.
Multiple explosions were heard as police special forces entered the pharmacy in the city center of Karlsruhe , southwestern Germany , after arriving at the scene at about 4:30 pm on March 10, according to Reuters.
"A special forces unit stormed the pharmacy at 9:10 p.m.; a male suspect was arrested," Karlsruhe police said on Twitter.
Police restrained a man and took him out of the pharmacy. The suspect was covered with a blanket over his head and put in a car. Authorities searched the building and no one appeared to be injured.
The incident followed a deadly shooting at a church in Hamburg, putting Germany on alert. Gun violence is rare in Germany.
Earlier, police said in a joint statement with prosecutors that "many" people had been taken hostage. Police cordoned off the city center of Karlsruhe.
The StuttgarterZeitung newspaper reported that two people had been taken hostage, as well as a demand for a ransom of one million euros. A police spokesman declined to comment for this story.
Meanwhile, Germany's Bild newspaper reported that police were in contact with the alleged hostage taker.
Karlsruhe, not far from the French border, is a city of about 300,000 people and is home to the Federal Court of Justice, Germany's highest court.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper
