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Two young female employees escape
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Two young female employees have now fled a central Sydney
cafe more than seven hours after a terrorist armed with a gun took dozens of
people hostage and forced crying women to hold a black Islamic flag up to the
window.
Daily Mail/RT/Channel 7 report a total of five hostages have now escaped Lindt cafe in
Martin Place after a male employee and two male customers ran out a fire exit
and hid behind heavily armed police officers shortly before 3.45pm on Monday.
It is believed they escaped from the cafe and were not
released as it was revealed police negotiators had made contact with the
hostage-taker.
Witnesses had early described how a man wearing a headband
covered in Arabic walked into the cafe and produced a shotgun from a blue bag
at around 9.45am.
Shortly afterwards hostages were seen with their hands
pressed against the windows holding up the Shahada flag belonging to the
extremist group Jabhat al-Nusra, which is fighting the Assad government in
Syria.
There are claims that the terrorist is also armed with a
machete and may have explosives but this has not been confirmed by
police.
One of the hostage-takers has made contact with officers saying
that he has 'devices all over the city' and 'wants to speak with the prime
minister live on radio', according to Ray Hadley, from 2GB.
Lindt Australia CEO Steve Loane estimated there are up to 50
people being held inside, but NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn
said on Monday afternoon they believed there were less than 30 hostages in the
cafe.
Armed police have sealed off streets around the cafe and
Martin Place station is shut as officers operate according to their counter
terrorism protocols.
The
incident began just hours after a 25-year-old suspect was arrested in a terror
raid in Sydney.
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