A man wielding an axe and knife as he held 15 hostages on a train in western Switzerland has been shot dead by police.
Swiss police said the perpetrator was a Farsi and English-speaking 32-year-old Iranian asylum seeker.
Fourteen passengers and the driver were held by the man for almost four hours before police stormed the train and killed him.
“The hostages were all released unharmed,” police said in a statement on Friday.
No details were given regarding the assailant’s motives.
The incident began on Thursday night on a train between Baulmes and Yverdon-les-Bains in the mountainous district of Vaud at around 6.35pm.
The perpetrator forced the driver to stop the train, lockdown its doors, and leave his post to join the others on board at the Essert-sous-Champvent station, according to local media reports.
Passengers stuck on the train alerted the police and the surrounding area was sealed off for police negotiators to make contact with the assailant, who had tied up some of the hostages, Swiss public broadcaster Radio Television Suisse (RTS) reported.
Explosives were used to divert his attention, according to RTS.
“As the hostage-taker rushed with his axe in the direction of the intervention group, a police officer used his weapon to protect the hostages, fatally hitting the perpetrator,” police spokesman Jean-Christophe Sauterel told reporters.
“For the moment, there are no elements which direct us towards a terrorist or extremist act.”
The man died at the scene and the hostages and their families were supported by an emergency response team.