Man 'seizes child hostage' outside Sydney court

15:14, 6 September 2011

LONDON. September 6. KAZINFORM A man with a backpack which he says contains explosives is holding a child at a courthouse in a suburb of Sydney in Australia, local media say; Kazinform refers to BBC.

Police have sealed off the area in Parramatta, with one official saying that there is "a hostage situation".

Some reports say the man is holding his 11-year-old daughter. Details of the incident remain sketchy.

This comes a month after a fake bomb was strapped to a teenager at her home in Sydney.

Bomb experts took 10 hours to remove the device from the neck of 18-year-old Madeleine Pulver. Officers later described the device as a very elaborate fake.

A suspect was detained in the US, and is awaiting extradition to Australia.

'He just snapped'

Police confirmed on Tuesday that an operation was on-going, after streets outside the family courthouse in Parramatta had been sealed off.

A command centre has been set up at the scene and police negotiators have been called in.

Fire and ambulance crews are on standby outside the courthouse.

The motives for the suspected attack are unclear; Kazinform cites BBC.

To learn more go to www.bbc.co.uk

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