Armed Iranian Asylum Seeker Holding 13 People Hostage on Swiss Train Shot Dead: Police

After nearly four hours of failed negotiations, an intervention team stormed the train and neutralized the perpetrator.

A railway technician stands next to a train, where passengers travelling from Yverdon to Sainte-Croix were earlier held hostage, in Essert-Sous-Champvent, western Switzerland, on Feb. 9, 2024. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Authorities in Switzerland say an asylum seeker was killed by police after he used an axe, a hammer, and a knife to take a dozen passengers and the mechanic of a train hostage.

In a statement on Feb. 9, police in the European country’s Vaud region confirmed that the 32-year-old man was an asylum seeker of Iranian nationality whose file was assigned to the canton of Geneva, a global banking hub home to one of the four major offices of the United Nations.