Hostages released from Clinton office

A MAN wearing what appeared to be a bomb strapped to his chest walked into a Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign office yesterday, took several hostages and demanded to speak to the candidate during a close to four-hour standoff, authorities said.

The man released the last of the hostages as the afternoon wore on, but remained in the office and was not immediately taken into custody.

Ms Clinton was in the Washington area at the time and extra security precautions were taken to protect the former first lady, said a law enforcement official.

The man entered the office on the main street of Rochester, New Hampshire, at about 1pm, ordered people onto the floor and let a mother and her baby leave, said State Police Major Michael Hambrook.

About two hours later, a woman in a green sweater was led away from the building by a SWAT team member. Authorities, some carrying shields and guns, had the building surrounded, and laid wiring up to the building’s entrance before the woman was released.

The office is one of many Ms Clinton has around New Hampshire.

The suspect is an older man known around the town to be mentally unstable, the law enforcement official said. The man walked into the campaign office and opened his jacket, revealing what appeared to be a pipe bomb.

The official said the man also demanded to speak with Ms Clinton.

Witness Lettie Tzizik said she spoke to the woman who was released first and that she was crying, holding the infant. “She said, ‘A man has just walked into the Clinton office, opened his coat and showed us a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape’,” Tzizik said.