Hostage drama as armed police storm DLR
Armed police stormed a train in a dramatic rescue as a knifeman held three passengers hostage for more than an hour between Shadwell and Limehouse. They were called out after reports of a 19-year-old Asian man waving a knife on the packed DLR train
Armed police stormed a train in a dramatic rescue as a knifeman held three passengers hostage for more than an hour, between Shadwell and Limehouse.
They were called out after reports of a 19-year-old Asian man waving a knife on the packed DLR train, at around 7am on Saturday.
The driverless service was stopped between the two stations and more than 30 passengers managed to escape to safety down the tracks.
Officers surrounded the service and posted a sniper on the roof of a nearby building.
The remaining three passengers were terrorised for more than an hour before Scotland Yard officers stormed the train.
During the raid one of the hostages was accidentally hit by an officer using a 50,000 volt Taser weapon and suffered minor injuries.
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A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "A 22-year-old man was in the carriage where the suspect was believed to be.
"When challenged by armed officers he did not immediately comply with instructions so one of our officers deployed a Taser."
The knifeman gave himself up at 8.20am and he faces charges of kidnap and a knife-related offence.
A British Transport Police spokesman said: "A man has been arrested for kidnapping and possessing an offensive weapon."
Witnesses said some of the passengers were tourists and about 20 police cars and an ambulance were at the scene.
