20 Aug 2013

Town hall seige over in Germany

6:07 am on 20 August 2013

Police in Germany have arrested a man who was holding two people hostage in the town hall in Ingolstadt in Bavaria.

The two captives were released unharmed after armed officers intervened.

The building had been cordoned off since since 9am on Monday. The BBC reports the siege forced Chancellor Angela Merkel to cancel an election campaign visit to the town.

A third hostage - deputy mayor Sepp Misslbeck - was released earlier, five hours after the siege began.

The other two hostages were said to be aides to Mr Misslbeck.

Police said the man had previous convictions and had a pistol.