DLR drama as armed man takes passengers hostage

Passengers on an east London DLR train were held hostage for over an hour on Saturday morning by a man armed with a knife.

Photo: sludgegulper @ flickr

Passengers on an east London DLR train were held hostage for over an hour on Saturday morning by a man armed with a knife.

One member of the public was hit by a police stun gun when armed officers stormed the train.

The hostage-taker, described as a 19-year-old Asian man, held three people on board the train as armed police surrounded it. A police marksman targeted the scene from the roof of a nearby building.

The train was brought to a stop at around 7am between Shadwell and Tower Hamlets stations, where 30 passengers escaped along the tracks. Three others were left in the carriage for the duration of the standoff between the knifeman and police.

The knifeman eventually surrendered at 8:20am, after police stormed the train. One hostage was accidentally tased during the altercation.

A Metropolitan police spokesperson said: “Met Officers did respond to an incident on the Docklands Light Railway during which a Taser was discharged by a Metropolitan Police Service officer at a man in a DLR carriage.”

“He was in the carriage where we knew the suspect to be and when challenged by CO19 armed officers, he was not immediately compliant. We understand this member of the public was not badly injured. This man was not the man detained for the incident.”

The hostage-taker faces charges of kidnap and knife-related offences.

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