Special forces storm consulate, but bandits had fled

Swiss special forces stormed the Spanish consulate in the capital, Berne, today to bring an end to a near six-hour seige only to find the suspected robbers had fled.

Three masked assailants – believed armed with knives and a handgun – had seized the consulate shortly before 8am (7am Irish time), taking three people hostage, police said.

One hostage, a security guard, managed to escape soon after the hold-up and was taken to hospital with head injuries.

The assailants ordered the two other hostages, both consulate employees, to open a safe, but neither knew the combination, Spain’s Foreign Ministry said.

They then ordered the man and a woman into a separate room, Spanish authorities said.

Police surrounded the building, but the suspects apparently fled the consulate before the officers had even arrived, said Major Peter Theilkaes, leader of the Berne police operation.

The hostages were able to leave the building about 10.30am (9.30 am Irish time), under police protection, Bern police said.

A special police unit went into the consulate around 1.30pm (12.30pm Irish time) but were unable to find the suspects, police said.

“As soon as it was ascertained that no more consulate workers were in the building, the police checked the building and found it empty,” a police statement said. ”The assailants had already fled. From that, we conclude that the attack was of a criminal nature and did not have a political background.”

Spain’s Foreign Ministry said it had no evidence anything was stolen. The safe contained money, passports and visas, said ministry spokesman Angel Vazquez.

“From the outset, the assailants were interested in the safe,” Vazquez said in Madrid. “The contents of the safe are secure.”

Swiss and Spanish authorities gave no further information on the identities or nationalities of the attackers.

“It could have been anything, from a break-in to a classical, planned hostage-taking,” Theilkaes said.

Officers sealed off Bern’s exclusive Kirchenfeld district, where the Spanish consulate and other foreign diplomatic missions are located.