SYDNEY: Two more people have escaped from the Sydney Café where a hostage situation is unfolding. One of the two people was seen running into the arms of heavily armed policemen guarding the area.
Both women appeared to be employees of the chocolate shop and cafe where the hostage situation has been ongoing since morning. They were both wearing aprons bearing the cafe's Lindt chocolate logo.
Earlier, three people had escaped from the café through a fire exit. It is not clear whether they escaped or the armed gunmen let them go. This has brought the number of people who escaped the building to five.
New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn said "The first thing that we are doing is making sure that they are OK. We will then establish who they are and then we will continue to work with them."
"We do not have any information that suggests that anybody is harmed at this stage," she added.
The police said that the people who escaped are currently with the police. “They are being questioned as to what happened,” police said.
An armed IS gunmen had taken hostage several people at the Lindt Café in Sydney early today. The video footage showed several people with their arms in the air. The hostages were forced to hold up a banner with Arabic writing on it.
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(With inputs from Agencies)