Three people have been taken hostage by an unidentified person at a Sberbank office in the Siberian city of Tyumen, Russia, the emergency services told Sputnik on Wednesday. Police have engaged in negotiations with the perpetrator.
"According to preliminary data, a Sberbank branch on the first floor of a five-storey building in Tyumen has been seized. Three employees are being held hostage", the spokesperson for the emergency services said.
The man claimed he has a "dangerous object" in his bag and demanded money, police said, adding that two bank staffers are still in there.
Approximately 50 people have been evacuated from the residential building where the hostage situation is unfolding.